Abby vs CJ
by thewizardanthedragon
Summary: CJ invites Abby to a duel of pranks. WARNING - CONTAINS CP OF BOTH A MINOR AND AN ADULT - DON'T LIKE DON'T READ - THIS IS YOUR WARNING!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - 1. This is a direct sequel to "Cafeteria vs. Math Class" **

**2. Thanks to Gaben as she was the inspiration for the ideas that unfold throughout these chapters. I hope they live up to her expectations.**

**3. None of the NCIS characters, themes or such are owned by me... like everyone else here I just use them...**

**Abby vs. CJ **

Halloween was only 2 days away, therefore on Monday morning CJ made sure to talk to each and every one of 'the gang' to make sure they brought in their required supplies. She would be attending math class that morning and wanted to stop by NCIS on the way home and wouldn't be able to catch up with them all in person until the following day. They all said they would text with their lists later that afternoon.

The day went by, it was boring and not very social but since she could still feel the three lines left by the switch she was going to be seeing a lot more of the math room in the coming months. She had absolutely no interest in repeating that experience EVER , let alone anytime soon.

Steven and CJ shared a long goodbye kiss standing by the front door while they waited for the bus to take CJ to the Navy Yard. Two of their acquaintances wolf whistled and then with humor smacked Steven across the back with their school bag making disparaging remarks as they sped off.

CJ teasingly pushed Steven away with her hands on his chest. "I need to leave and you need to catch your own bus" raising and lowering her eyebrows provocatively. "Without you I don't think I will be able to finish my homework tonight." Steven offered not letting go of CJ. "I will IM you tonight and I can help you if your mathematics is too hard for you" she sarcastically replied. She had to stand on her tip toes to kiss him on the cheek and quickly boarded the bus when it arrived.

The bus ride to the Navy Yard didn't take very long with CJ thinking about what she was going to say to Abby. She arrived and made sure to stop by the bullpen. Henry, the newest member of the team was the only one hanging out. He didn't know CJ very well but he knew enough that her showing up unannounced was unusual.

"Where are they?" CJ asked pointing to Tony and Ziva's desks.

"Ah… Ah… they… ah…" he said opening and closing his mouth like a gulping fish. He reminded her of Tim when he was caught off guard.

"Well… I didn't think that was a very difficult question… are they in the building?"

Henry nodded in the affirmative that they were still in the building and having finally found his voice he said "They went to autopsy".

"Thanks Henry, when they get back tell them I will be in Abby's lab, OK? You won't forget to tell them will you?"

"No… no … I'll tell them... I will"

Rolling her eyes CJ walked to the back elevators to head to the lab. CJ wasn't sure where they found their new recruit but he seemed a little green as far as she was concerned.

The elevator dinged and CJ stepped out. She squared her shoulders, stood up straight and made sure to set her face in an angry glare. CJ marched into the lab.

Abby upon hearing a visitor turned quickly. She smiled, and shuffled over quickly in her platform boots. Abby threw her arms around CJ who stood stiffly not fighting to get away but neither was she accepting of the affection.

Abby sensing that CJ was not in her general happy go lucky mood she backed off and held CJ with both hands on the teen's upper arms and looked her up and down. The computer on the main lab set up began to beep. Abby went to her computer and began to type hurriedly. CJ followed more slowly and turned to lean her back against the desk, arms folded across her chest. She raised her eyebrows and scrunched up her mouth.

Abby's typing slowed as she looked sideways at her visitor. She could tell that CJ was pissed, but didn't know about what exactly.

"CJ it is so good that you came to visit..I haven't seen you in weeks and weeks.. you haven't been to headquarters in forever… what made you decide to come today? .. you missed seeing us all.. Tony didn't make you come did he?... I know he was really mad at you this weekend… I haven't seen him that mad in a long time… heard through the grapevine you had a bit of a rough weekend yourself…" Abby rambled on in her usual manner.

CJ allowed her to run herself out. She wanted to make sure Abby was ready to be quiet and listen.

When CJ was sure that Abby was quite through she turned slightly so she was able to look towards Abby easier.

"Why would you give my father nasty ideas?" CJ enquired through gritted teeth.

Abby like many other members in CJ's family rarely found themselves at a loss for words, especially Abby. But Abby wasn't sure exactly what CJ was implying.

"Ideas CJ? Whatever do you mean?" Abby said, the innocence not a put on as she really didn't know what the kid meant.

"Yes, you put ideas into his head. He said so himself." CJ said raising her voice slightly as she poked Abby in the chest with her index finger.

Abby raised both her hands as in surrender. "CJ I swear that I have NO idea what you are talking about. But I would be more than happy to talk about this if you stay calm and put that finger away" smiling and shaking her pigtails.

CJ pulled her hand away, eyed Abby suspiciously and turned back to be leaning completely against the desk again.

Abby sensing the CJ actually wanted answers she waited a few seconds before asking "What ideas am I supposed to have given Tony?" pursing her lips and opening her eyes wide.

CJ's shoulders slumped a non trivial amount and looked at the floor. She suddenly felt embarrassed. She had thought the Abby would know right away what she was talking about and that she wouldn't have to actually explain.

"CJ you know you can tell me anything" Abby's tone shifted to caring big sister and placed her arm around CJ's shoulder.

"Dad gave me a switchin' on the weekend for forging his signature repeatedly" CJ whispered.

Sucking air in through her teeth Abby grimaced. "Yikes, that's gotta hurt… I use to hate it when Gloria would make me go cut one myself… she didn't do it often… but man … I made sure to avoid that … wait… how does all this have anything to do with me?... I wouldn't give him that idea… I don't know what you think I might have said because he didn't talk to me about anything that happened last week… it was Ziva who said it hadn't been the best of weekends and that is the first time I heard anything about your particular predicament." Somehow Abby could ramble on without ever sounding breathless, she could just keep going.

Her energy helped CJ feel less self conscience and she looked into Abby's eyes. She was telling the truth or at least how she saw it.

"He said you said that the only thing that hurt more than Gibbs' scrap was a switch. He said you said that." CJ said looking at the floor and tapping the toe of her shoe on the floor while talking. "You gave him the idea."

Abby squeezed CJ closer with her arm still around her. She furrowed her brow and pursed her lips again. "I don't know why he would blame me. I will have to have a word with him."

"NO" CJ jumped to be facing Abby. "Don't … I… don't really want to go over that with him again… I just wanted to tell you to keep your ideas to yourself in the future… I figure he can get enough of his own he doesn't need yours as well."

In that moment a surprised Abby's face fell. "What is it Abby?" CJ could tell something had occurred to her. "Abby?" she tried again when there was no response.

"I did give him the idea… well not directly … but it was my story that he must have used for the idea…" Abby paused only momentarily and CJ gestured for her to continue. "It was a long time ago… I really long time ago… like before you were born… before you were thought of… before your parents were a couple… a real long time ago…. " Abby wanted to make sure that CJ realized that it wasn't really her fault that Tony used that piece of information in his punishment of his daughter. "Tony got himself into trouble quite often when he was younger… and on that day he had super glued Timmy's fingers to the keyboard AGAIN… but what really ticked Gibbs off that day was that they were called out to crime scene at the same time… and so McGee had to bring the acetone with him in the truck and everyone had to try and extricate his fingers and well the timing was sort of really bad… so when they got back to head quarters Tony got strapped … and he…" that was as far as she got before CJ held up her hand in an obvious sign to stop.

"Tony got strapped" CJ repeated "they alluded to that fact on Saturday night and at the time I just let it go. But today, today I want answers."

"Answers" Abby asked.

"Ya, answers, like who strapped him and wasn't he adult, at work, how does that work exactly?" CJ's thought were not sorted and so neither was her question.

"Gibbs strapped Tony, yes it was at work, yes he was an adult but he wasn't acting like on and the interrogation room is a useful meeting room for such occasions."

CJ stood quietly. She would process this information at a later time but now needed more information on the original story. "OK, Abs, go back to the first story, but I might have more questions."

"anyway… Tony always sulked after he got punished… he really was a big kid… and that day he was sulking in my lab because he was waiting for evidence… he really was laying it on a little thick and I was losing patience with him so I told him about the time I had super glued my baby brother to a hard hat and that I had gotten a switching which hurt way more than Gibbs' strap so he should be thankful that he was in DC with Gibbs instead of in New Orleans with Gloria… so you see… I didn't really give him the idea… not directly… I wouldn't do that… you see ... RIGHT?" Abby finally finished by this time she was wringing her hands and biting her bottom lip.

CJ laughed at the scene before her. Abby truly was like a big sister and not some distant adult, she wanted CJ's forgiveness and acceptance.

"I believe you. BUT… no more stories about how you were disciplined as child to Tony… then he can't get any new ideas… deal?"

"Deal" Abby said hands on her hips and with an exaggerated nod.

"So I guess you'll be attending all your classes from now on… won't you."

"Sadly… yes, I don't have much of a choice… this year is boring… I don't have enough time with my friends to set up pranks and we don't see each other in classes nor do we have lunch together. We have Saturday nights… and that's it."

"You haven't pulled any pranks in a couple of years CJ, you're just missing them now?" Abby asked a bit confused.

"I haven't been caught pulling pranks in a couple of years… "and then her voice trailed off, that was a dumb thing to say. She'd just stepped in it and really after this weekend she really couldn't handle being in it at the moment.

"OOO … do tell…" Abby encouraged but seeing CJ's weary look she had to add "I won't tell anyone… C'mon CJ… please"

Abby could be just as big a kid as Tony at times. And this was one of those times. She loved pranks and especially Halloween pranks.

"You swear that anything I say won't be repeated to anyone… absolutely no one can hear about it… understand?"

Abby stood tall, raised her right hand and crossed her heart with her left. "I swear".

So CJ told her of her freshman year. She told her about each of the pranks, how the gang all helped out. She told her that basically they had done something once a day for the week leading up to Christmas break and then slowed to one a week from January through to the end of the year. Abby was impressed that CJ had been able to pull it off. She asked gossipy questions and laughed were appropriate.

"See that's why last year was WAY more fun. We have something planned for Halloween. Nothing much but enough to get a laugh or at least a good story."

"OOooo I want to have fun on Halloween as well" Abby said bouncing and clapping like a child.

And that is when the idea popped into CJ's head. It was perfect.

"Hey Abs… I dare you to a pranking contest"

Abby's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. "Pranking contest? For Halloween?"

CJ just went with what flowed out of her mouth. Little thought had gone into this but she thought it might add a bit of spice to her dull and tasteless days.

"Ok… starts on Halloween… ends the last day of classes before Christmas… you have to pull a prank at least once a week… you get extra credit if you can manage more than one on any given week… we meet on Monday's after school and we disclose the previous weeks antics… " CJ stood thinking for a few minutes.

"You have to have proof you pulled it off. You can get help if you need it or want it but you have to be directly involved, more than just planning. You're disqualified if someone gets hurt. You prank here at NCIS and I do it at school. For a prank to be successful you can't get caught."

"Got it" Abby said holding out her pinky finger of her right hand to pinky swear on the agreement.

The two sat catching up on general news and CJ filled Abby in on the ever growing relationship with Steven. It was at least an hour later that Ziva came to collect CJ from the lab.

"Shalom my little one" Ziva called to her daughter in Hebrew. "Henry said you were down her. Why did you come to the office?"

"I had to clear the air with Abby. It's all straightened away now. But we've decided that I'll visit every Monday. I miss all of you guys so much." CJ winked at Abby as she was lead out of the lab by her mother.


	2. Chapter 2

CJ was quiet on the way home in the car. She was happily processing the afternoon she'd just spent with Abby; a wealth of information and a duel so to speak in the works. Life was finally going to be interesting again.

* * *

Halloween morning arrived and CJ made sure she had everything she needed. Owen's brother was picking everyone up so that they could be at the school early enough to get things set up.

As soon as they arrived they set to work. CJ and the girls in the girl's change rooms, the guys in the boy's change room. They choose to concentrate on the shower stall area and spread the chicken entrails from Atti's Sunday night chicken dinner all over the tiles. With Owen as look out CJ broke into the utility room that was just for the gym area and poured copious amounts of red food colouring into the hot water heater. She was super careful not to get any on her hands. CJ had brought her cell phone so that she could quickly snap a few photos "for proof" for Abby.

Once it was all set up they went for a snack in the cafeteria to wait for first period. But really they wanted to be in a public area when news started to spread about the change rooms. They didn't have to wait long because both the boys and girls basketball teams had been in the gyms practicing that morning. It was those two groups that found the 'mess'.

The wild stories of murder and mayhem quickly spread through the school. Mr. Cooperland actually called in the local police, but they soon found that it was chicken and food colouring and wrote it off as a hoax. It was just another strange Halloween story for them to add to their long list of why none of them liked Halloween.

The administration at the school only made a single announcement for the culprit or culprits to come forward. A high school of 2000 kids was an easy place to hide. No one really thought they could catch who was responsible and so they wasted very few resources in trying to do so. CJ reveled in the fact that every class, every teacher, every conversation in the lunch room was about "The Prank". She smiled knowing she was responsible, with a little help from her friends.

Meanwhile at NCIS Abby was busily working in her lab. Her prank had not brought out the local LEO's but she had caused confusion and quite a bit of a stir.

Abby had hacked into the elevator control systems and reprogrammed each of the buttons. Not only did they each produce their own Halloween sound effect, they also took the passengers to incorrect floors. The staff was first startled by the cackling witch or eerie organ music but then found themselves deposited on the wrong floor.

Director Vance approached the cyber unit first and not having any luck in finding the culprit started to search the rest of the building. By the end of the day the perpetrator had not been found and it was chalked up to a Halloween "thing" and left at that. The cyber unit was called in to rectify the mis-programmed elevator and by quitting time it no longer sounded like a sound effects CD.

Abby had kept the program on a flash drive as her proof to CJ.

CJ breezed through the rest of the week and was happy to be spending Saturday night with her gang. They set up a couple of movies on the plasma, turned down the lights and sat back to relax. Within the group now there were several couples and this "movie" time turned into an opportunity to make out; CJ and Steven being one of those pairs. Over the past couple of weeks things had become a little more physical in their relationship and they were exploring what they were both comfortable with as 15 year old will do. Tony needed to pass by the living room on his way upstairs and happened to catch a glimpse of his daughter leg wrapped around Steven, lips locked, her hand up his shirt, his hand at the top of her pants.

Tony's heart stopped. He stood there only for a moment, unsure of how to proceed. Unsure of the right plan he simply continued on his journey to his room upstairs. His mind racing, what were they doing? What were they thinking? They weren't alone in the room, they knew that right? He hadn't seen anyone else even though he knew they were there, he just hadn't taken in that much information, he'd been so surprised by his daughter.

A pale faced Tony entered the bedroom to find Ziva reading in a chair by the bed. "What is wrong?" she asked immediately noticing the look of horror on his face. It took him a few seconds to collect his thoughts before he relayed what he'd seen to his wife. She waved a hand at him and said "Do not worry about that, I have already had a talk with her about boys." Tony being surprised for the second time this evening asked "You have, when?"

"A while ago when I realized that they were actually dating and they would be alone every afternoon here doing homework."

Tony was surprised again. He had forgotten that they were together each and every afternoon, alone, in the house, now he really panicked. "Don't worry, don't worry! How can you say that, this is our daughter we are talking about" Tony almost yelled. "I was a 15 year old boy once you know Zi –Va"

Rolling her eyes she replied "Yes Tony I know that, you did not actually grow out of being 15 until your later thirties". She waited for him to process what she said. Maybe he would get off the topic of their daughter.

"Ha Ha, think you're funny." He sat down on the edge of the bed scrubbing his face with his open hands.

"Look Tony, she is going to make her own decisions, she always has, there is nothing you or I can do right now to change that. She understands how things work. You have to have faith in her making the right choice."

"Do you remember last weekend? Do you? CJ doesn't have a great track record when it comes to making wise choices."

"Tony! Those decisions are different. She is very responsible. She will be fine. Yes?"

Not sure he agreed with his wife he simply let the question slide and went to take a shower. The hot water would help him see things more clearly.

* * *

CJ couldn't wait until Monday's school day ended. She was so looking forward to sharing with Abby about the Halloween prank. CJ heard about the elevator's misfortunate reprogramming from her parents and she had laughed knowing Abby was behind it. But she had no way of sharing her story safely, therefore she had waited to do it in person.

Since her visit was preplanned this time CJ didn't bother going to the squad room to announce her arrival she made her way straight to the lab. She rushed in excited to begin her story but was called up short when she found the lab full of people. Tony, Ziva, Henry and Jimmy were all in the lab discussing the gruesome pictures on the screen. CJ stopped in her tracks and then quickly continued to office section of the lab to wait until they were finished. As she passed by they all waved a greeting and smiled.

It was only about 10 minutes before the swosh of the sliding doors brought CJ out of her reverie. Abby standing hands on her hips, pigtails bouncing and a giant smile on her face. "Let's hear it she said" locking the door behind her so that they wouldn't be interrupted.

CJ quickly went into a detailed account of the set up, staging and aftermath of the prank. Abby was really impressed. And in that moment realized that she was at a disadvantage to CJ. She worked in a smaller facility and in an organization that was less tolerant of pranks. CJ's prank had involved the police and she still hadn't gotten caught. Mostly because they didn't really look very hard but in Abby's case those looking into any occurrence were trained investigators.

Abby decided to bring up these technical difficulties with CJ. "You want to back out?" CJ asked in an accusatory tone. "No … No.. not at all… I just thought I would point out the tactical differences that lie ahead for us… so that when we come to a decision on the winner we take those difficulties into consideration."

"I can live with that" CJ offered. But she also said "I would say that if I do get caught the consequences are more severe for me" wanting to have mitigating circumstances of her own.

"Agreed… Now show me your proof" she called in her most demanding voice.

CJ laughed as it was hard for Abby to sound or look demanding. CJ took out her phone and showed the photos. CJ standing beside the shower stall covered in chicken bits and another of CJ dumping food colouring into the hot water tank. They were extremely dangerous photos to have around and so once they were "approved" by Abby CJ deleted them immediately.

"Now show me yours." Abby took out her flash drive and showed CJ the program. She had also recorded one of the security tapes to her hard drive that showed people getting off at the wrong floor looking very confused. There was no sound but CJ had already been given a lengthy description by her parents on Halloween night. And like CJ she deleted all evidence thoroughly as soon as it was shared.

"Do you have anything lined up for this week yet? " CJ asked Abby eye brows dancing up and down.

"Still thinking…. Like I said I have to be careful… but I will come up with something… I have all week."

Abby had lots of work to do because of the open case they were trying to solve and so CJ began to wonder the halls of NCIS as she had many many times before as a young child. It was so familiar, as familiar as home. She made a point to find Jimmy and say hi. She didn't stay long as he was in the middle of autopsy and had pulled him out into the hall. CJ found Tim and gave him a great big hug hello. A hug that reminded him more of Abby than Tony or Ziva. CJ followed him around for quite a while talking and visiting and it was with Tim that Tony found her when it was time to go home.

"Stay out of trouble CJ" Tim called to her as she left.

"Always do" she laughed back over her shoulder at him. She saw him shake his head before turning on his heel and going back to his desk.


	3. Chapter 3

CJ had four days to come up with a plan, put it in place and set it off. She decided that because she had excess food colouring this would be a week she would throw in an extra "small" prank to boost her ratings in the duel. And she felt guilty that she'd done the same prank years ago. On Tuesday morning after the first bell rang to signal class was about to start CJ quickly entered the teacher's lounge that was now empty and deposited the red food colouring in each of the soap dispensers. There were 3 different soap dispensers, one in each of the two bathrooms and another in the kitchenette area. Hopefully there would be enough hand washing that CJ would get to see the outcome.

Rushing to first period so that she wasn't late CJ ditched the now empty food colouring container in the hallway garbage. CJ knew she would have to wait for some time as the teachers didn't have a lot of opportunity to go to the lounge until at least lunch time. But she was not disappointed in the afternoon as she spotted at least three teachers with pink hands walking through the halls.

As proof CJ had snapped a photo of herself pouring the food colouring, just like with the hot water tank and she also surreptitiously snapped a photo of one of the teachers walking in the hallway.

Now she needed a 'real' plan. A new prank. That afternoon while they were all waiting for the bus CJ asked for help with ideas and since they all knew about the contest and wanted CJ to win everyone was so helpful. A list of ideas would be emailed or texted that night.

Steven and CJ meandered home when the bus dropped them off. It was so nice outside and there would be fewer and fewer days now that it was November. When seen together they were always touching in some way. This afternoon they each had their hand in the back pocket of the other person as they walked. This configuration also slowed their pace as CJ's 5'7" figure was dwarfed by Steven's 6'4" masculine stature. As they reached the front door Steven turned and leaning his back against the door slid down so that his straight legs were out in front of him but holding him up. His torso was now at the same height as CJ, making it easier to kiss. CJ straddled his right leg and wrapped her hands around his neck. They remained in this position exploring each other with their hands, kissing for a several moments before entering the house.

They sat across from each other at the kitchen table. Steven playfully kicking CJ every so often so that she'll look at him while CJ tried in vain to ignore what he was doing. They got very little homework completed. As far as Tony and Ziva were concerned they thought that there was simply a large increase in the amount of homework CJ was bringing home as she was now as sophomore. And really the time spent before supper on homework was just becoming less and less productive.

CJ squirreled herself in her room that evening not only to complete the homework that should have easily been done earlier that afternoon but also to read through the emails her friends had sent regarding the pranks she needed to get working on. Not everyone had given ideas but those that had were pretty good. CJ chose one of the easier ones as she felt that she'd already done something this week.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Abby on the other hand was trying very hard to come up with a plan of attack at work. Not being caught was really the biggest problem. Her solution was to make sure that the pranks were localized to smaller teams as they would not be so widely investigated. It was late on Wednesday before an idea finally struck her. She would need to have access to the squad room without being seen or videotaped. So she used Wednesday night to record the feed from all the cameras in the main room. When she arrived on Thursday she made sure she had gotten enough footage and set things aside until later that night.

No one questioned that Abby worked late or arrived early so she had access to the building all hours. Watching the squad room she waited until it was empty and then began to feed her prerecorded footage into the system. She had about 30 minutes to do the work she needed. She went from computer to computer taking a photo of the "desktop" image. Once she had a photo from each computer she returned to her lab and went to work. Resetting the video feed so that it was back to live was the first step. Next she downloaded each photo, sized it appropriately and then remotely accessed each computer resetting their background as the photo. The next step was to hide all icons on the desktop screen. That had the effect that each computer only looked like it was showing the desktop and the icons when in fact it was simply the background picture.

Friday morning absolutely no one could get anything to work. They were all madly clicking the icons that were simply a picture and couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. IT was soon called in and it was way longer than it should have been from them to figure it out. In the end they ended up resetting the entire bank of computers to default settings to solve the problem.

Abby sat in her lab howling watching the live feed from the video cameras. No one saw her in hysterics, no one understood it was a prank, they all thought things had gone on the "blitz" and so no one even tried to find the architect of the chaos.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

On Friday morning CJ asked her parents if they could give her a ride into school as she had to work on a school project and would need a bit of extra time that the bus drop off would not allow. Both happy that she was taking responsibility for her school work and attending classes on a regular basis had no trouble driving a bit out of the way to get CJ to school before they headed to work.

It was school project, kind of, it was a project, and it was at school! But what CJ needed was enough time that she was the first person to arrive in the upper level of the school where all the lab rats were kept. The school only used them for running mazes and such, nothing cruel or nasty. But CJ was going to pull a "Free Willy" on the lab rats. All she hoped was that enough of them hung around the room that when whoever was responsible for feeding them that morning found a room full of rats rather than just a bunch of empty cages. But that would work as well.

She quietly made her way to the appropriate hall and looked around cautiously. No one in sight, great! She picked the lock and let herself in. Her mother didn't realize that she had inadvertently taught CJ that skill years ago, Ziva had not realized that CJ was watching her technique when they had once been locked out of the house before they'd installed the keypad to prevent the need for keys again.

Once inside all the cages were easy to open. She had to lift each of the creatures out, not because she thought they couldn't eventually find their way to freedom but she needed them running about before anyone arrived. So one by one she released all 30 rats into the small storage room where they lived. CJ left them all sitting staring with their beady little eyes around the room. Many of them sat there dazed while CJ exited the room, relocked it and went to the nearest bathroom to wash her hands. She was in the front foyer waiting for the rest of them when the buses finally arrived. Each one of the gang asked "did ya do it?" and her only response was a slight nod and a big smile.

It took almost all day for CJ to start to hear about the events that had conspired that morning. Unlike the gory Halloween prank it didn't have the same kind of re-tell ability. This could be because at first they had blamed the pour junior who was responsible for feeding them the night before for leaving all the cages unlocked. He had been found to have not done a good job of locking up the little beasts in the past. In the end it was decided that he wasn't likely to forget to lock 'all' the cages and he swore he was very, very careful now.

The story CJ heard in science was that a senior opened the door to feed them and found about 15 of the rats still in the room running about freely, the student jumped about 6 feet in the air with the surprise of seeing them all running about. It took several seconds to process what was happening and couple escaped out the door. The mayhem of the chase was well described but CJ was disappointed that she could not be there to see it live. When those couple were rounded up they returned to the room and found 2 rats had returned to cages to eat. Several were found in the food bin itself. Another group was found in the cupboard. There were 3 three unaccounted for by the end of classes.

This was not the first time the rats had been released in the history of the school and so the blame quickly landed on the animal activist club that had been responsible last time. Not only had they been previously guilty they met on Thursday afternoons, perfect timing. CJ hadn't had all the extra information, it just happened that way. Luck was finally on her side. She just hoped it would stay that way.


	4. Chapter 4

On Saturday Ziva was able to convince Tony to go to the movies and leave 'the gang' alone for the evening. It had been a hard sell but Tony's love of cinema and an evening with his wife alone was something he just couldn't pass up. They left early enough to grab a bit of something to eat before the show. As soon as they were out of the house Steven appeared on the front step knocking to be let in. CJ stared at him through the glass beside the door making faces. He feigned walking away and it was then that CJ finally let him in. They got out snacks and stuff for when the rest of their friends arrived and then ordered in pizza to share while they waited. Due to the fact that they had wonderful imaginations and special alone time they were able to keep themselves busy, at least their hands and lips.

The group spent a lot of their time deciding on which pranks to pull which week because some things would be easier to pull off during assemblies or teacher staff meetings. CJ was proud of her little group. Last year at this time they had all been prank probies who couldn't even come up with an idea. This year however they were not only coming up with plans but solving timing and supplies dilemmas as well. She smiled at Steven helping to lead this crew of otherwise misfit friends. He too had changed so much over the years. Not only in physical appearance of scrawny short kids to broad shouldered towering hulk but also in self confidence and ability to lead. He had been her friend her entire school career and when that friendship started he was so shy he generally let CJ do all the talking. Now he was one of the guys, a leader within this band of eccentric teens.

CJ also shared her photos of this week's pranks with everyone as they had not been a part of them and she hadn't had an opportunity to pass around her phone. There was discussion of setting up video cameras to see some of the "larger" pranks but the idea was tossed because it would be an identifying object and CJ had no interest in being caught. She figured if it was easy to find the guilty parties then the administration would do it, but if it took more than an announcement or a few extra minutes work than it was easier to just let it slide. A camera if found would definitely make it **easier** and she didn't want that to happen.

Tony and Ziva returned late to find the gang all still in their living room playing cards, listening to music and laughing uncontrollably. Returning to find them all physically separate eased Tony's mind and he began to worry a little less about his daughter with 'that' boy. What Tony found ironic was that years ago he was so glad that his daughter was friends with Steven. He was always so polite, well behaved and desperately tried to keep CJ out of trouble. Now he worried what Steven's intentions were. At one time Tony's mere presence sent the boy into anxiety spasms, but not anymore. The kid had 3 inches on him and had finally realized that Tony was not going to shoot him with his gun. If only there was a little bit of that fear left Tony could use it. Maybe he would try to instill just a snippet. Just maybe.

The first day of the school week was always a bit of a drag but the clock seemed to almost go backwards for CJ who was desperate to see Abby and compare notes. Waiting, it was never easy for any reason. The final bell rang and CJ almost ran to her locker and out to the bus. She said speedy goodbyes to her friends and only laid a cursory kiss on Steven as she dashed out of the school. The bus ride took forever and it was an impatient CJ that strolled into the lab that November afternoon. Abby was nowhere to be found. "Arrrggg" thought CJ I rush all the way here and some work thing gets in the way. To make waiting easier CJ decided to leave Abby a note and go to the lounge to grab a snack and a soda. She met a few agents along the way and had quick how do you do conversation with each of them. She tried not to roll her eyes every time they told her she was the spitting image of her mother, or what a DiNozzo smile you have. It wasn't that she disliked these characteristics but it perturbed her that everyone felt they had to point it out, like it wasn't already blatantly obvious every time she looked in the mirror. She remained polite and smiled sweetly.

CJ found Henry pounding on the snack dispensing machine with his fist when she was finally able to make it to the lounge. "Henry… Henry…what are you doing?" CJ said putting her hand on his arm to stop him from banging anymore.

"This danged machine ate my money again and didn't give me anything for it and it's been a long day and the Boss man has been storming around here all day on the war path and I just want a candy bar for crying out loud." It wasn't until he was finished that he registered to whom he was speaking. And in his embarrassment went deafly silent.

CJ liking the fact that she was not the only one who tried to avoid her father on days like today felt a sudden understanding in this young agent. He stood there staring while CJ maneuvered the machine this way and that and then with a very specific and directly thud smacked it just right and the candy bar Henry had been wanting dropped into the dispenser tray. She reached in, grabbed it and handed it to Henry. Bought herself a treat and a drink and directed Henry by the arm to a table nearby.

"So why is my father on the war path today? Some nasty criminal on the loose?"

"Ya, something like that, we just keep coming up short. He keeps looking at me like I'm supposed to know what to do next. But I just don't, nothing we're doing is working, he's really pissed, he hates me."

"Try having him for a father" CJ laughed trying to lighten the mood. "Henry he doesn't hate you."

"How would you know?" Henry spoke sarcastically.

"If he hated you, you wouldn't be on his team. He only keeps the best, the brightest and the ones he likes. The rest he throws back into the pool. And you've been with him for over a year. You wouldn't have made it that long if he hated you." CJ stated.

He started at her dumb founded. "Really? Or you just trying to make me feel better?"

"Henry, you don't know me very well, I am not one to say something to just make you feel better. Think I am genetically related to Tony and Ziva as well as raised in their household. Do you think that someone in that situation would say something to make you feel better?"

He thought while chewing on his snack. Laughing he smiled and got up to go back to work. "Thanks CJ. I appreciate your little pep talk."

"No problem." Finishing her snack she went in search of her pranking buddy in hopes of stories.

Abby was back in her lab when CJ made her way down there again. She was working on something and pointed CJ in the direction of the rear office area. CJ set up at the computer and started on some homework as she didn't know when Abby would finally be free. It was a good 45 minutes before the swosh and click of the door sliding shut and being locked behind Abby was heard.

"Spill it" was her only greeting.

CJ showed her the photos of the soap dispensers and the pink handed teachers. Abby had a good laugh and was surprised that CJ has also done something on the Friday. "Why?" was all she asked.

"Well, it was kind of a repeat prank, I'd done it back in Mr. Richardson's class in sixth grade so I wasn't sure it would count for full points so to speak."

Abby was all over it and releasing the rats was just something Abby would do even if they were only used for gentle experimentation. She was happier that they had the opportunity to be free, even if it was only for the morning. CJ clicked through her phone and showed all the images to Abby and deleted them as soon as they had finished laughing.

Abby in turn explained what she had done. CJ was astounded. Abby not only had better equipment at her disposal she also had a lot more skills. CJ insisted that Abby start teaching her computer skills as she was only really a computer user and had no programming or control skills. Abby promised to start lessons in the new year and as the grand finale for the afternoon she played the soundless video of the squad room with everyone trying to work their computers and confusion reigning. They laughed until their sides hurt, and tears rolled down their cheeks and until Tony stood on the other side of the locked door looking like a man on a mission.

Pulling themselves together and Abby quickly deleting all video CJ unlocked the door. "Why was that locked?" Tony asked in an accusatory tone. CJ was surprised at how fast Abby caved eyes down cast, biting her lower lip. CJ stood tall. "We were having a break and didn't want to be disturbed. You are working your team hard and a few minutes of a laugh and relaxation helps to keep the thinking juices flowing. So back off Abs, she just needed a minute." And with that CJ strode past her father who couldn't get out more than a growl. CJ knew she was cruisin' but a tongue lashing for sassiness was far better than the alternative for a pranking duel with Abby.

"Get back to work" was his only instruction as he turned to follow his daughter out into the hallway. The two swats that landed were so expected she'd waited in the hallway so that he didn't get angrier trying to find her. "Watch the attitude young lady. It has been a long day."

Choosing to ignore that part of the conversation she inquired "Are we going home now? Or can I go visit Jimmy?"

His tone softened as he looked at his daughter who was once again smiling. Like him she'd take the smack she knew she had coming and then just keep on going. He remembered the time in the lab where he'd implied he'd let Gibbs win while training to keep the peace and then realized the Boss man was standing behind him. He'd winced in preparation for the smack to the head he was sure was coming, but didn't. That was not until the reporting was over and Gibbs made to leave at which point he landed a solid smack to the back of his head. CJ had so many DiNozzo traits. "We're really busy, we were going to order in something a little later and work into the evening. Can you finish up your homework here? And then we'll be going home before bed time."

"Sure thing Dad, I have a bit of homework left and maybe I could use one of your computers to send a message or two. I'm going to look for Jimmy right now though" and with that she was off to find the ME. She found him in autopsy working hard over a corpse, his silent assistant standing obediently at his side. CJ hadn't been old enough to remember Ducky. He had passed away when she was very young. The stories were that Jimmy just slid into his role, as easy as a greased ham. Jimmy had been with Ducky for so many years and had grown from an unconfident assistant to Tony's confidant just as Ducky had been for Gibbs.

Tony no longer called him the autopsy gremlin but CJ did. When she first started to call him that Jimmy had been offended, but soon came to realize that it really was a term of endearment and enjoyed it for what it was.

"Hey my autopsy gremlin, how's it going?" CJ demanded as she stormed into the room. "This is a place of respect and a certain decorum is required from you while you are in here." Came his Ducky like response. CJ became over somber and jostled him affectionately. "CJ knock it off would you. I am trying to get something done here."

Jimmy's assistant just started. He'd been through several assistants and now one of them had stuck. He was still looking for the right fit. CJ could tell him that this one was not the "right" one either, but her opinion on the matter was never asked and so in this special case decided not to share her opinion. CJ rolled one of the stools over to the table, got a face shield from the hook and sat quietly watching Jimmy work. Once back into the rhythm of his duties Jimmy began one of his long winded tales. CJ just listened. She enjoyed his stories and this is what she would always remember of Jimmy.

When dinner had arrived to the bull pen Tony called around to all of CJ's haunts to locate her. He invited Jimmy to join them for supper but he declined as he was going home to his wife. The new team and CJ ate each with their feet up on some desk, leaned back in a chair finally taking a moment to breath and remember the fun parts of the job.


	5. Chapter 5

Week three brought with it a bit of planning and preparatory help for CJ on the pranking front. The Tuesday afternoon students were dismissed 30 minutes early and **all** school staff had a meeting in the cafeteria for a couple of hours. That left the halls, offices and classrooms free of prying eyes. CJ needed to make sure she used this opportunity to its fullest as it would not happen again until next term. She had a list of things that she needed to retrieve from different locations and it would also be a good opportunity to set up a prank as well. CJ was torn as to how best to use her time. Collect needed materials and that was it or also use the time to set something up as it would be fun.

Through emails and texts all day Sunday and Monday night after supper CJ divided up job lists to all members of 'the gang'. With their help she would be able to accomplish so much more. Tuesday during the school day flowed so much like Monday, like molasses in January. The final bell rang signally time to get started. CJ was to meet Owen and Ashley down by the front office. Atti and Avery were to go to the tech wing and Steven and Ainsley were supposed to hang out at the stationary supply room until all was clear.

CJ couldn't believe how easy this plan fell into place. Her luck really had changed. The three of them at the office quickly let themselves into Mr. Cooperland's office and retrieved the few items that they required. Before they left the office CJ super glued all of his stationary supplies to his desk. She was giggling as they made their way to Mr. Black and Mr. White's offices just down the hall. The same procedure took place in each of those offices. Owen grabbed what they needed and CJ with Ainsley's help super glued the stationary in place so that it was truly stationary. They could barely suppress their giggles as they walked through the adult empty halls to the front foyer. The meeting place previously agreed upon by the gang.

While the trio was in the front office area completing their list of tasks Steven and Ainsley had entered the supply room and had begun to switch things around. Opening boxes of paper clips and filling them with push pins and vice versa. Then they exchanged all the toner cartridges so the red was in blue and yellow in black, by the time they made their way to the front foyer not one set of supplies was in the correctly labeled box. They also removed a few items for later pranks.

Simultaneously Atti and Avery were in the tech wing, their main goal was a bit of reconnaissance as CJ wanted to know how long it took to clear the halls in the afternoon, what class had what equipment and what projects were in the classroom at the end of the hall used for the sole purpose of storing projects in progress. The two guys took the longest of the crew to get what they needed to finished and were just in time to catch the buses home. Atti's email was sent out that night to CJ to let her know what they had found out.

Instead of doing homework that evening Steven and CJ strategized about what they should do when. They now had supplies for several other activities but the timing and set up was rather important. CJ also carefully worded a text to Abby wondering if the practical jokes they'd set up that afternoon would be sufficient to cover her end of the competition for the week. Abby's reply suggested the 3 offices of high officials was more than enough but that the switcheroo of stationary didn't count at all as she wasn't in the room, she had only planned. CJ was a bit disappointed but understanding, after all she'd made the rule herself.

Steven and CJ retired to the living room for some alone time before her parents came home. Making out on the couch was so much more comfortable than in the kitchen and so in the past few days they had taken to spending the end of their homework time together there. They both still listened carefully for a car in the driveway or a door opening and would quickly turn to making conversation if someone was to arrive unexpectedly. But on this particular Tuesday afternoon no one came home and the conversation soon turned to speculation of whether or not they would even hear about the super glueing incident. As it wasn't particularly a public affair.

* * *

CJ and Steven had been correct; there was no stories circulating about the office raid. CJ was rather disappointed as she thought there would at least be an announcement about it. But absolutely NOTHING was said.

The rest of the week just happened. Nothing exciting took place it felt like a very long week. CJ even momentarily considered finding alternative arrangements for math class again. The memory of the switching was the only thing that kept her with her butt in the desk for the rest of the week. Saturday couldn't come fast enough. The small glitch with Saturday was that CJ had been counting on her parents vacating the house again so that they could review the items they had relieved from the school to set things up for the following week and but her parents stayed home.

So they had to review their inventory while it remained in backpacks strewn over the living room floor. This week they had Thanksgiving on Thursday so they were short on days to accomplish the tasks. Wednesday it was decided was the best day and again a list of jobs and supplies was handed out to a few people. Cards was once again the order of the evening as it was easier to talk while playing then while watching a movie.

The gang filed out late that night after having spent an evening of fun and relaxation. Steven as usual was the last to leave and it was only the two of them sitting on the couch giggling when Tony appeared at the door. Although he didn't look angry he carried himself in a serious manner. CJ's stomach did a flip as she eyed her father from her location on the couch. Trying to encourage her father to say what he needed to say and then leave CJ asked "You want something Dad?"

"Just you two to behave" his tone serious and his gaze landing on Steven.

"Ok, we will" CJ offered quickly and happily. Hoping that her lightness of mood would allow him to feel comfortable enough to leave the two of them alone, unfortunately he asked Steven "Can I see you out Mr. Arnott?" turning his body slightly to indicate he was ready to go to the front door immediately. Steven comprehending a direct order to leave when he heard one, stood kissed CJ on the top of the head while she remained seated on the sofa and followed Mr. DiNozzo out towards the front door. Steven grabbed his jacket from the front hall closet, picked up his previously discarded backpack and met Tony on the front porch.

"Steven you're a good kid. I just want to make sure that you continue to be."

"Yes sir"

"In the past you were my daughter's good conscience and…."

"Sir?"

"And I'd like it to stay that way… I want you to make sure that the pair of you make good choices."

"Yes sir"

"You both need to stay out of trouble, at home and at school. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir" may have been what Steven said but it wasn't at all what he felt. He knew it was the "right" answer to give but he wasn't sure if Tony was alluding to their relationship or the pranks or both. Steven started to worry that he was on to their plans. As for the relationship it would go where it would go and Tony, Mr. DiNozzo had little say in that.

CJ had quietly taken up a position just under the window and had cracked it just enough to hear the whole conversation that took place outside. She too was confused as to what her father was referring. No matter really, his little talk wasn't going to dissuade them from their plans.

* * *

CJ decided that from this point on she and Abby should meet on Fridays. She couldn't stand having to wait all week, all weekend and then all day Monday to find out what Abby had done. Monday was basically pure torture and she didn't get any work done at school and then had so much homework to accomplish and really she wanted the evening to hang out at NCIS and visit with everyone.

When the bus finally dropped her off at the Navy Yard and she walked her way over to the NCIS headquarters she spotted a couple of company cars trailing a pink foamy substance out of their tail pipes. Although it looked unusual CJ look little notice.

Abby was standing at her computer in the main lab area typing madly and muttering to herself. CJ tried to sneak up on her but Abby turned just at the last minute and it was CJ who jumped instead. "How many times have I told you, you can't sneak up on me I hear the elevator ding?"

"I know but it really is worth a try and one day I'll remember to use the stairs and it will work" CJ laughed gently punching Abby in the arm.

"Can we talk now? Or should I go a wondering and come back a little later?"

"Nah, I can talk now. I just can't take too long. Just let me set this up and everything will be working while we visit."

CJ resumed her usual spot at the back desk and put her feet up on the desk to wait. Abby was right it only took her a couple of minutes to set things up and she was at CJ's side having locked the sliding door behind her.

A large smile crept across her face as she leaned over and typed a few things into the computer. Up popped several photographs of Abby pouring something into the gas tanks of a long line of "company" cars in the lot outside. There were a few more photos of the cars themselves being driven, with a pink foamy substance trailing out of their tail pipes. Just like what CJ had seen on her way into the building. "What did you do?" CJ asked between giggles.

"A little chemistry experiment" Abby replied with her eyebrows raised and her hands clapping in front of her chest. "Do you like it?"

"I love it. I actually got to see two cars on my way in. Why is it still happening?"

"They will have to finish up the tanks of gas that are currently in the vehicles, before it will stop happening. I got it into a dozen or so cars so on Friday you should have seen the pink mess the car lot was in." The two girls laughed hysterically as they clicked through the pictures as a few of them had caught the looks on the confused driver's face.

CJ stopped laughing when one of the drivers turned out to be her father. "He doesn't know who did it right?"

"No… not at all… why do you ask?" concern creeping into Abby's face.

"He pulled Steven aside this weekend and told him to keep me out of trouble at home and at school. I just wondered seeing him as one of the victims in the photograph if he knew something."

"CJ if he was on to us to you think he would just let it go, or do you think he would confront us?"

"Confront us" CJ replied confidently. There was no doubt in her mind that her father would be towering over her if he was absolutely positive CJ was involved in something. He may not if he was just suspicious but if it was just suspicion he would begin investigating. And investigating was what CJ was worried about.

Abby already knew what CJ had done but she showed her the photos on her phone anyway and also the photos that Steven had taken with his phone. CJ knew the stationary switcheroo wasn't going to count but she thought Abby should see it anyway. Both carefully deleted all photographic evidence and text messages that had been exchanged that week. As CJ was about to leave to let Abby go back to work, Abby handed her a small box wrapped in shiny black paper and it had a beautifully tied bow to hold it all together. CJ was about to open it when Abby gently grabbed her hand and shook her head no. "Wait until you are at home alone before opening it" she explained.

Happy to oblige but being driven crazy by what might be inside CJ carefully tucked the package into her school bag, hugged Abby goodbye and left.

She wondered the halls for only about 10 minutes before she found Tim. "Hey Timmy, whatcha up to?"

"I'm on my way back to my desk, you gonna join me?" he invited.

"Sure" she followed along beside him as they navigated the halls to his desk. CJ asked about his current case, to which he just huffed and rolled his eyes. "I guess we can talk about something else" CJ suggested.

"Ya that would be better."

Tim had recently purchased the newest version of a video game the two had played when CJ was younger. They talked about how it had improved and how it had changed. They talked details and fun times. They laughed and joked and CJ asked if he could bring it over when he came for Thanksgiving dinner later that week.

Tim asked if CJ had been staying out of trouble recently. "Of course" came her usual and safe reply. "That's not what I heard" Tim shot back. For an instant CJ's heart stopped, was her father investigating, did Tim know something she or Abby didn't? As calmly and evenly as she could CJ asked "What have you heard Tim man?" throwing a smile in for good measure.

"You, spending your time in the lunch room instead of math class." Tim said with quite a stern tone in his statement.

"Tim, Tim, Tim… that was so… like a long time ago… I am so behaving myself and attending ALL scheduled classes" winking at him to get him to lighten up.

Looking at her from the side of his eyes he explained "I think that is more because you're afraid of what your father might do to you rather than an interest in regular attendance."

"The reason I am sitting in class doesn't really matter does, as long as I'm there, or at least that seems to be the impression I get from everyone. Because as far as I'm concerned I would learn more spending my time on something useful rather than sitting through the boring class."

"Math is extremely important CJ…" he began before being cut off.

"Now listen here buddy ol' pal… it is not that I don't think that math is important… it isn't even that I think it is boring… I have already covered this material in the past and I want more of a challenge and no one seems capable of giving me that challenge…. I WANT to do more… if I were able to spend that 45 minutes learning something more complicated and interesting than I would have less trouble attending."

"Ah… I see… " opening and closing his mouth as he thought things through. "Why don't I show you a thing or two?"

"Really? You'd to that." CJ was excited learning something worth learning, how novel.

So until Ziva came looking for her Tim and CJ went over what CJ already understood and started to work on what the next steps would be. Tim suggested he would email her problems to keep her busy and interested and if she kept herself out of trouble during math class she could work on his problems instead of the teacher's. When she came to visit on Friday they would go over them together.


	6. Chapter 6

As soon as CJ was home and safely locked in her room she opened her special gift from Abby. CJ's eyes lit up, a smile grew across her face this was awesome she thought to herself. And then out loud she said "Thanks Abs". At the bottom of the box was a small piece of paper with a note from Abby.

CJ,

I am giving you these as a challenge for our little game we are playing. For the prank to count next week you must use the contents of this box. Text me if you accept the challenge.

Abby,

CJ rummaged through her bag and found her phone. Quickly texting 'Y' to Abby, CJ already knew what she was going to do.

* * *

There was a CD player that was in the front foyer of the high school. No one knows how it got there but everyone uses it. The clubs and groups use it to play music while advertising or selling their wares. At lunch people just play music on it. And on Wednesday as the students all entered through the main foyer they were greeted by Pink Floyd's 'Another Brink in the Wall' blasting on the CD player. But what made the scene a bit comical was that there were several sets of wind chimes made out of various items that had been lifted from the offices.

The wind chimes were hanging from the ceiling in the main area and contained a couple of paddles, a few different rulers, a pointer and a strap. Laughter was heard through the halls as people heard about the display and came to have a look. The gang all took turns walking through the front foyer to see the reaction and when the bell rang to signal the start of class the music was still on repeat and the wind chimes still hanging. Yet by lunch the entire display had been dismantled. CJ wasn't sure who had taken it apart but it had been up long enough that almost everyone in the school had seen it and she had video of the scene on her phone to show Abby.

Thanksgiving was the next day, so many people were not particularly interested in school and classes and most lessons were short and a lot of discussion occurred. Happily much of the discussion was about the display that had adorned the front entrance area. CJ's English class even discussed what the student or students that set it up may have been trying to say. CJ had a hard time not laughing through that one.

That afternoon the bus dropped Steven and CJ off as usual and they walked briskly to CJ's place as it was cold and windy. Still laughing about the reactions to their display and sharing the discussions from their classes they fell into the house and heard voices and smelt food and coffee. They were quickly sobered as it was totally unexpected. "Hello they both called into the house" to no one in particular but they wanted to hear the response to decide what to do and say next.

"Hey" came various responses from the kitchen. The two teens removed their shoes and bags by the door and tried to act as laid back as possible as they entered the kitchen. The three adults hanging around the table and counter seemed in good spirits and were preparing different foods. "You had a good day at school, yes?" asked Ziva with a smile.

"Ya, a good day mom. What are you all doing here?" she replied casually although that was not at all how she was feeling.

"We've been working like crazy lately and right now we don't have an open case so we thought we would come home early. Make a nice supper and get ready for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night" Tony answered while he looked through the fridge.

"Sounds like a good plan" CJ nodded.

"We don't have a lot of homework actually so I guess I will just be on my way so you guys can all…. visit" Steven said.

"No, no, no… you can stay for supper if you like. We have plenty, call your mother and let her know you'll stay for supper."

"You sure?" he asked, wanting to stay but not wanting to intrude.

"Yes we are sure" Ziva answered handing him the phone.

For the first few minutes there was tension in the room as the conversation took a moment to flow evenly. But soon the 5 people were talking, sharing and catching up on news about school and work. Gibbs said very little in the conversation but listened intently to what everyone was saying. He laughed and smiled where the story dictated and he was somber and serious when necessary. CJ and Steven made sure to avoid any conversation that would lead to explanation of extracurricular activities. Tony and Ziva were careful to not give too gruesome of details as they had a guest at dinner.

Steven stayed well past supper and the group remained at the table visiting. At about 21:00 Steven excused himself and explained he had better be getting home. Some of his relatives were arriving this evening for tomorrow's festivities. CJ saw him to the door and they shared a gentle, loving kiss goodnight. Steven hugged CJ one last time before walking home.

* * *

Thanksgiving Day was a blur. The family arrived at all hours of the day, Abby first. And then each of the others arrived carrying some sort of food offering. Tim remembered to bring his laptop with the new game he and CJ had discussed and the two of them were lost in some fantasy world for a good three hours before Tony 'unplugged' them. Jimmy and his wife stayed for the afternoon but needed to attend biological family dinners, CJ wasn't sure how they were going to eat 2 Thanksgiving suppers because she could barely move after one.

At some point in the afternoon Abby had cornered CJ and asked. So did you like what was in the box? "Oh YA" was all CJ said before they quickly moved onto safer topics. They made sure that they were not together alone for very long.

Dinner was enormous with everything that Ziva had prepared along with everyone else's offerings. And the family sat around the table for a couple of hours reminiscing of Thanksgivings of the past. This group had shared many. They talked of Ducky and his how he had started this tradition and that no one was going to show up as they all had separate plans. That was until a case got in the way and they were all stuck in DC. They had enjoyed it so much it had become a tradition. It was actually CJ's birth and not Ducky's death that moved the celebration to the DiNozzo-David residence.

CJ enjoyed listening to stories of the NCIS family and their work, relationships and letting loose. The evening ended with "Do you remember the case?" game where they shared stories about past cases and tried to outdo one another in the strangeness factor. It was very late by the time people started to file out and CJ sleepily marched to her room to go to bed. Tomorrow was going to feel like a very long day with so little sleep. But she had the visit with Abby and the NCIS crew to look forward to since she had moved their rendez-vous to Friday afternoons instead.

Friday went by faster than any Monday had which was partly because it was the day after Thanksgiving and because it was a Friday. Making her way to the lab was her first priority but she dropped off at Tim's desk and gave him the sheets of problems he had emailed her. She had completed them in math class that week and wanted him to look them over before she came back. "I'm just going to be with Abby for a half hour or so then I will be back up to continue our lessons, is that ok?" she asked him as she walked past.

"Sure, CJ. I might have to wait until you get here to look at these" holding up the math papers "I'm just in the middle of something right now." He said with the phone stuck between his shoulder and cheek.

CJ continued on her way to the lab to find Abby madly working away at her computer in the rear office area, but as CJ passed through the sliding doors she realized that Abby was not alone. Tony stood just out of sight tapping his toe and arms folded across his chest leaning against a table. "Oh, hi Dad, you guys busy? Should I come back a later?"

"Will only take a minute, I just have to follow this link and then we'll be done" Abby answered in a fevered pace. Tony didn't take his eyes off of Abby and her madly flying fingers. CJ's gaze ping ponged between the two trying to figure out what was going on. In the end she too leaned against the table and watched Abby. Only moments later the printer to Abby's left spat out a couple of pieces of paper, Tony grabbed them and quickly exited the lab. He didn't say anything to either of them as he left.

Without the use of words and simply gesturing and through facial expression the two were able to communicate. What was that all about? Us? No? Good! Once that was cleared away CJ joined Abby at the desk and filed through her phone to find both the photos of the set up and the video of the wind chimes swaying from the ceiling and the Pink Floyd blaring.

"Wow, a statement as well as a practical joke: full credit on that one." Abby offered. Abby too began to grab photos while CJ quickly locked the door, they didn't want anyone sneaking up on them. Abby showed her a few still of Abby on a chair in the lunch room and then Abby lifting the ceiling tiles and placing something inside and then setting it up to tumble at a later date. Abby had spy cameras and video surveillance equipment at her disposal and so catching everything on tape was easy. The video showed a few of the agents, none that CJ knew personally and a janitor sitting down to eat their lunches when enough Styrofoam peanuts fell in a cascade from the ceiling. The group all looked up in astonishment and it continued to fall.

"Abs how much did you stick up there?" CJ sniggered.

"Just a couple of large garbage bags full." Laughing again at seeing her set up work so well.

They gave each other a high five and talked for a few minutes about how much more interesting CJ's day at school is when she is working on the next prank or listening to everyone talk about them. "You ready for next week?" CJ wondered out loud.

"You bet. I have it all planned I know what I'm going to do and when I'm going to do it."

They talked a bit about their plans without sharing specific details and then they parted ways. Abby needed to get back to work and CJ had a meeting with Tim and his math problems.

As predicted Tim hadn't had a chance to review the problems but CJ sat patiently and waited until he was available and together they looked at them. They went over the couple of errors and Tim taught her a few more things. They spent a good part of an hour discussing the theory behind the work and CJ again felt like she'd finally learnt something.

Gathering her belongings she went in search of either her mother or father to find out the plan for supper and going home. They still didn't have new case and were easily found sitting at their desks clearing up old paperwork and files. They weren't going to be late and the plan was to go home and eat turkey leftovers so that no one had to think too hard on the preparing supper front.

The family piled into the elevator together at the end of the day. The drive home was a noisy one as they all tried to talk at once about their days and plans for the weekend. Friday night was a quiet night, Steven joined them and they had a movie fest evening just the four of them complete with popcorn.


	7. Chapter 7

Thursday was the day. The gang had discussed it on the weekend and they decided that they wanted it as close to the end of the week as possible so that there was less school time to look for the culprits but they wanted it done before Friday so that CJ could have it all looked after by the time she met Abby after school.

Using their information that was gathered from Atti and Avery's earlier reconnaissance mission CJ and the rest of the gang entered the tech wing. Quickly they began to place a small black cat firecracker in the ventilation slot of the closest row of lockers. CJ had tied each of the fuses together so that they only had to light one and each would blow one at a time as the fuse burnt away. Once all ten were placed the gang backed out of the hall and left CJ the final honors of actually lighting the fuse.

Chaos reigned immediately. Once the first firecracker blew the echo reverberated through the metal locker and down the hall. A student and teacher still in one of the classrooms though they heard gun fire. The second firecracker blew. Now the two were sure that it was a gun they had heard. The teacher initiated lock down procedures and things went from bad to really bad.

The firecrackers continued at regular intervals to explode confirming for those in the area that they really were under attack. The entire school was in lock down. The problem was CJ had nowhere to go. The rest of the gang had been on the way to the cafeteria and were quickly ushered into the closest classrooms. CJ's only escape was a bathroom just outside the tech wing. Far too close to the action as far as she was concerned. She was alone and starting to panic.

Police sirens could be heard within minutes, the announcements on the loud speaker told everyone to stay where they were. CJ couldn't decide if finding a different location to hide was the best choice but she didn't want to be found in the hallways. Panic had truly taken over and there was no longer the possibility of rational thought on CJ's part. With her back against the far wall she slid down until she was sitting wrapped her arms around her knees and began crying.

It felt like she was there forever. And when the police officer finally found her she had been in the bathroom for over 20 minutes alone. The school was still in lock down but they had discovered that it was not likely a gunman but a stupid prank. They had found the remnants of the black cats and a book of matches lying on the floor in front of the set of lockers. The officer was trying to console her explaining that all was well and that there was no need to be scared, she was safe.

CJ was not worried about a gunman, she was worried about a very different man, one this young officer had no understanding of. It was as the officer led her down the hall towards the auditorium that he noticed she was bleeding. And instead of leading her to where they were collecting students who were not designated to a class at the time so that they could make sure all were safe and accounted for he took her to the EMT's set up in the front foyer.

This was where it all came out. How else do you describe a severe burn on four of your fingers if you weren't the one with the matches? The EMT was such a nice woman. She treated CJ's fingers and bandaged them all up. She too tried to console CJ as the tears continued to fall. She wasn't crying, there was no sound, the tears just spilled uncontrollably down her face. It was in her gentle questioning about how CJ had managed to get such bad burns while at school and during this incident that the EMT worker put two and two together and realized that CJ was the one to have lit the firecrackers and in that lighting process was burnt. Getting as many details as possible from CJ while she was in the daze like state the EMT worker radioed her supervisor who in turn contacted the head of the police on scene who in turn contacted Mr. Cooperland. It was this group of men who descended on the front foyer to collect a still tearful CJ.

Mr. Cooperland's first call was to Mr. Tony DiNozzo. Problem was Tony was unable to answer his line because at that very moment the NCIS headquarters was in lock down because someone had allegedly fired a weapon in the parking garage. NCIS was in just as much turmoil as was the high school. None of this information registered with CJ.

Mr. Cooperland's second call was to Mr. Leroy Jethro Gibbs as he had dealt with the uncle on a previous occasion and thought it best to get a hold of someone now rather than later. Beyond panic, beyond feeling, beyond worry CJ just sat mute and statuesque. She didn't realize that each student was counted, and all were escorted back to the class to which they belonged. The change of classes didn't happen until everyone was properly registered. CJ also didn't hear any of the men around her talking about possible mischief charges, school suspension or need for official statements. CJ didn't register that her fingers really, really hurt or that she was extremely hungry.

Gibbs had difficulty gaining access to the school but eventually was escorted to the office. He was brought up to date on what had happened and spent several minutes convincing the LEO's and the school that he would keep CJ home the next day but there was no need for further external intervention as they would deal with everything at home. He made sure to drop what he had once been and what both of CJ's parents current employment entailed. It was a hard sell but it was Gibbs and he finally won out. Only then was he lead into the office to see CJ. She paid no attention to his arrival and he was instantly worried. CJ was in shock and no one around her seemed to be paying any attention.

"CJ, CJ look at me" he said taking her by the shoulders as he knelt in front of the chair she was sitting in.

Seeing a familiar face CJ wrapped her arms around his neck as though she were a small child saying "Oh Uncle Gibbs" and began to sob. She continued to sob as he rubbed her back and held her tight.

"Shh… shh… it's going to be ok angel… it's going to be ok… shh …. Shhh" he tried to sooth. He was never any good at crying women or girls. It made him feel so inadequate like nothing else could. But she needed him and so he stayed there crouched on the floor, knee throbbing, mind racing trying to figure out how to calm his "little angel" down.

When she had finally got enough control that he could get her to stand and follow instructions he took her by the shoulders and led her out of the building and into his truck. He headed straight for NCIS, not because that was where Tony and Ziva were, although that was a bonus, it was because that was where Jimmy would be. And CJ needed to be tended to the bandages were wet from tears and he was worried she was actually in shock.

By the time Gibbs drove into the Navy Yard and up to the parking lot, most of the commotion and excitement was over and it only took a couple of physical threats and I'll report you to get them into the building and heading to the autopsy theater. Once in the building Gibbs called Tony on his cell to get him to meet them. CJ was simply following orders and instructions, she wasn't thinking, or feeling she was just being. Jimmy actually lifted her under her arms onto the table as you would a toddler.

He first un-bandaged her hand and examined the burns. They were quite bad but not very big. He instructed Gibbs to get her something to drink as burns cause dehydration and with the emotional shock of everything she would benefit from some fluids. He asked CJ a lot of questions, had she hit her head, when was the last time she'd eaten, what were the burns actually from. She answered them in monosyllabic responses and in a tone drained of all expression.

Tony arrived first and like when Gibbs arrived at the school CJ threw herself around him and sobbed. He too was not the best at consoling but his daughter was in need of him and he was there. A shoulder to cry on, an arm to hold her up and words to sooth "Peanut it's ok, we'll work it all out, you're alright now." Tony was patting her gently on the shoulder when Ziva flew into the room and took over the holding, rocking and reassuring.

Much of the soothing and words were more for themselves than CJ. She wasn't paying any attention. But hearing the words out loud helped each and every one of the terrified adults to calm themselves. It may have been that they too had been in lock down, or that they saw she had been injured, or that she wasn't being her normal CJ that had them so worked up that none of them were able to do more than a few words per sentence.

The tableau of Jimmy and Gibbs standing off to the side, CJ sat on the autopsy table being hugged by Ziva and patted gently by Tony was interrupted as a mascara streaked goth came flying through the sliding doors and bowled Ziva over to get to CJ.

"Oh my God,.. Oh my God… Oh my God… are you alright… of course you're not alright… you got burned.. oh CJ let me see… no I don't want to see… Oh my God… it's all my fault…she's going to be ok right? she's going to be ok… I am so sorry CJ … it is all my fault.. .what was i thinking.. you got hurt and that is all my fault… I didn't think you'd get hurt… Oh my God." Abby ranted as she touched CJ all over as if to make sure she really was in one piece.

Abby's overwhelming outburst brought CJ into the present. "Abs, I'm ok" CJ affirmed grabbing Abby by the shoulders and giving her a pretty good shake. Abby in returned stopped completely. She didn't move or say anything else. The two accomplices stared into each other's faces and traded an assortment of feelings and thoughts.

It was Jimmy that brought them back to reality and suggested that maybe the family reunion could take place in a more appropriate location like the conference room and leave the poor dead in peace.


	8. Chapter 8

They all moved as a group to the conference room, but soon decided it would be best if Gibbs took CJ home and everyone went back to work and things were dealt with the following day when the feeling of crisis had subsided. Tony and Ziva returned to their desks and Abby to her lab but not before Tony growled at her that he would be visiting her in the morning after talking with CJ. Abby swallowed hard and grimaced before quickly making her exit.

Gibbs led CJ back out to the truck and instructed her to put on her seat belt. She had only momentarily snapped out of her trance when Abby had appeared. She was in no state to communicate what had happened or what she'd been thinking. Jimmy had told him to make sure the bandages stayed dry and clean and to bring her back the next day for him to change them and make sure she didn't need antibiotics. He had also suggested that since she hadn't eaten since breakfast that lunch would be necessary before she passed out from lack of nourishment. And although Gibbs knew he was just exaggerating to make a point he went picked up drive through on the way home.

At the house he set the food up at the table and instructed CJ to eat, which she did slowly. As the food hit her stomach it first churned roughly but soon was accepting and she was able to finish all that was put in front of her. Once the food began to hit the blood stream CJ seemed to come around a bit. Looking around and moving. She didn't speak until Gibbs finally asked "Are you feeling better?"

"Ya, Thanks" looking morosely at the table and fidgeting.

Gibbs smiled as he remembered his last encounter with his little trouble maker. It had been only a few weeks back. She had given him a decent run for his money with regards to the discussion, a good game of cat and mouse. Today she wasn't up to any kind of game; she wasn't even up to talking by the looks of things. CJ was still on the edge of panicking and required many reassurances that everything would be alright in the end. He escorted her to the living room and they sat together watching a DVD just to pass the time. CJ lay with her head in his lap and he gently stroked her hair or rubbed her shoulder.

My goodness kid, you can really mess things up he thought to himself as he watched her lay silently. Gibbs didn't have any of the story outside of what Mr. Cooperland had told him and was confused by why Abby had been so distraught, well not the distraught part but the fact that she thought it was all her fault. That was going to be a good story too he was sure of that.

Neither DiNozzo nor David was very productive for the rest of the afternoon and both decided that an early night would do them both some good and since there was no pressing case they could afford the couple of hours. They didn't go right home, they knew Gibbs would be keeping an eye on their wayward daughter and wanted time to talk together without listening ears. Initially they were mostly just sick with worry that CJ was alright. After seeing that all of their daughter's limbs were still intact and that she was simply shook up, anger quickly replaced all other feelings.

They had repeatedly counseled CJ on keeping herself out of trouble. They had repeatedly forbidden her to pull pranks and practical jokes at school. Yet here they were driving around DC discussing another episode that had gone very wrong. Wrong wasn't even the most accurate word to describe the mess that CJ had gotten into this time. Swat team swarming the high school in lock down with CJ hiding in a bathroom. To top off today's disaster was that fact that CJ had been part of a pranking duel with Abby. The principal had suspected CJ of a few of the incidents around the school but had no proof and so had not approached DiNozzo. Tony was beyond furious as was Ziva although she always took a more calculating approach to situations. Ziva saw things as much more black and white and thought you simply deal with the situation you have in front of you. Their daughter had racked up a list of household felonies and probably some actual misdemeanors as well. In their household there were rules which would be discussed again and there were consequences for breaking those rules which would be meted out. It was very easy as far as Ziva was concerned.

Tony on the other hand was trying to figure out why CJ insisted on breaking the rules that she knew where in place for very specific reasons which she had on many occasions said she understood. Years ago he had discussed with Gibbs CJ's motivation, at the time Gibbs said it was for fun. Was it still just for fun? Was it still because the thrill of pulling it off was worth the risk of getting caught? But she always got caught so how could she think it was worth it?

He was also trying to figure out an appropriate consequence. Only weeks ago he and Gibbs both had delivered a sound thrashing to reinforce household rules. And that last run in he'd had with CJ was one he didn't want to repeat. But she still battled authority, fought the rules and did whatever came to mind with little or no regard for consequences. Not just to her but to everyone around her, the school, anyone or anything that might get hurt or damaged in her games.

As he drove, talked and thought he came to the conclusion that it was just that; games. CJ saw these as games and she'd even brought Abby into it so that she had a contestant to win against. Man oh' man when he got a hold of her she was in for it for sure. As previously discussed they wouldn't deal with anything tonight, he'd wait until the morning when he was less angry and his daughter was in a state that could actually process what he was saying.

Hours later after they'd eaten supper they returned home to find CJ asleep on the sofa and Gibbs in the kitchen drinking coffee and reading the paper. Ziva went off to change. She wanted to go for a run before doing a bit of reading and going to bed. Tony sat with Gibbs and drank coffee. "Boss?" Tony began.

"Ya, DiNozzo." Gibbs always reverted to calling Tony by his last name whenever he was called boss.

"Ya still think she just does it for fun."

"Oh ya… ya … I do" accompanied the smirk and nod of his head.

"I know I got into a lot of trouble as a kid Boss but really not like this" Tony continued.

It was everything Gibbs could do not to laugh out loud. The raised eyebrows and questioning look he gave the younger man suggested he disagreed with that statement.

"Tony, how often did I have to take my belt to you?" he asked flatly.

"Well… enough… but… "

"But what? How is what she is doing any different than what you used to do at work let alone when you were away at school?" Gibbs asked as he pointed his thumb in his 'niece's' direction. "You eventually learned when and where jokes were appropriate, and so will she. I just think it takes DiNozzo's a lot longer to learn when NOT to prank than maybe others" he smiled to lessen the pain of the insult he had just let slip.

"And what about Abby?" Tony asked, he might as well get all the advice he could while Gibbs was willing to give it. He then explained what he knew of Abby's involvement and gifting.

"Abs, ya… good luck with that one" was all he offered.

"Good Luck? That's all you got? What did you do when she got herself in this deep?" Tony asked hoping that a more direct question would bring forth a more direct answer.

"She never pulled a stunt like that, not that I ever knew of anyway. There was the occasional over stepping of boundaries but nothing a stern look or sharp words didn't rectify."

"Great! She waits until my watch to set off a bunch of firecrackers in the parking garage and give some of them to my daughter to do that same at her school. And that was the grand finale so to speak in the clash of the goth girl vs. teen jokester. So **I** get to deal with it all" Tony ranted shaking his head.

"Yep" was Gibbs' only reply and he returned to drinking his coffee.

The men sat quietly for a while before Gibbs excused himself and was about to see himself out when Tony caught up with him on the front porch.

"Hey Boss, you comin' back in the morning?" he tried not to sound desperate.

"Ya, DiNozzo… I've got your six… and I'll stay all day with her too"


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N - this chapter contains the discussion and description of corporal punishment of a minor as well as he discussion of the corporal punishment of an adult - DON'T LIKE DON'T READ**

fRIDAY MORNING

CJ rolled onto her back and opened her eyes to slits just enough to determine that the room was light. It took more than just a few seconds to realize she wasn't in her room. Her elbow hit the back of the couch and she raised her hand to rub her eyes and was hit with the large bandaging on her fingers. It was these actions that brought back the memory of yesterday. Oh boy! Yesterday! That actually happened. Her stomach rolled and she groaned.

"Ya, you really did" Gibbs answered before she opened her eyes open enough to realize he was in the chair across the room watching her.

She groaned again but still refused open her eyes. If she opened them then the day would start and she wasn't ready for that, not yet. She wrapped her good hand over her face so that her elbow covered her eyes. She was that uncomfortable you feel when you've slept on the couch in your clothes instead of on your bed in your pajamas.

"You can't lie there all day and besides it won't change the inevitable" came Gibbs' matter of fact response to her groan and obvious attempt to forestall the day.

"I can hope can't I?" CJ moaned.

"Won't do you any good though, you're better off coming up with a really good reason for the havoc you created yesterday, the pranks you've been pulling over the past few weeks, the competition with Abby and I won't even mention that fact that at the time of the firecrackers went off you should have been in math class."

She moaned again. She knew things were bad but when you listed them like that, one right after the other, like a rap sheet they sounded so much worse. First of all she needed to reword the list so that they could hear it in a much more positive and upbeat tone. Although yesterday's mishap would be very difficult to reframe. CJ still didn't make any effort to get up but nature was calling and she couldn't wait much longer. She knew that once she was officially up the day would officially start and she had no interest in participating in today. Before getting up she needed to know a few things "Where is …" she didn't even finish the sentence before Tony answered "Right here". "Oh" was all she could manage and she didn't bother with the rest of her questions as they were answered by his presence.

Rolling off the couch she made her way to the washroom without acknowledging either man in the room. She didn't come out right away and instead stood in front of the sink staring into the mirror. She began to talk to the reflection "CJ you moron… what were you thinking?... what are you going to tell them?... that you're an idiot who didn't think things through to the end …obviously… that you were having so much fun you didn't really care then… but that you care now… that you won't do it again… God CJ you're an idiot… how do you explain yesterday? I mean you could blame that one on Abby really… she gave you the firecrackers … she laid out the challenge… but that would not be following rule number 1 would it… CJ you need to go out there you know… ya… I know… I know… I just need another minute to get ready for this… They're both out there… Great… screw up enough to have both Dad and Gibbs here… that is a record now isn't it…"

As CJ continued to talk herself into leaving the bathroom and going back to the living room Tony came looking for her. He had to go to work sometime today and he wasn't going to let her drag this out any longer. As he approached the bathroom door he heard her talking to herself and in a moment of clarity he chose to listen instead of yelling through the door as was his original plan. He stayed long enough to realize that she was in fact talking herself into 'facing the music'. He also knew that walking into the living room with him and Gibbs waiting would require as much courage if not more than it took her to orchestrate the mess that got her there in the first place.

"You forgot someone Tony?" Gibbs sarcastically asked when Tony returned alone to the living room.

"No, she's in there talking herself into coming. I thought it best that she finished her conversation with herself. We might even get direct answers if we give her a bit of time." Both men smiled and shook their heads and waited.

CJ silently walked back to the living room any courage or bravado that she had mustered in the bathroom dissipated immediately upon turning the corner and seeing the ominous pair sitting watching her. This duo had made harden criminals cry, how was she supposed to face them?

Remaining silent she quickly returned to the couch and sat down pulling the quilt around her, it made her feel like she had some sort of protection from the volley that was about to begin. Her plan when she'd left the bathroom was to admit she'd screwed up royally, say she was sorry and that she appreciated everything they had done to keep her out of 'real' trouble while standing tall, looking them in the eye. But having come around the corner to find them sitting staring in her direction looking menacing, she quickly changed plans. It wasn't so much a change in plans as complete inability to form a sentence.

Keeping her eyes glued on the pattern in the quilt fabric she sat and waited. The two men shifted their positions, Gibbs sat closer to the edge of the chair he was already in and DiNozzo moved so that he was sitting on the coffee table in front of CJ. She didn't notice that the younger man looked to his senior for reassurance and confidence of his own. Gibbs' nod signaled the beginning.

"CJ, I don't even know where to start" Tony began.

"The beginning is always a good place" CJ tried with a small voice and a smile.

Gibbs' growl quickly brought an end to anything else she may have been thinking of adding.

"I guess that's the problem CJ I don't even know where the beginning is. I want the whole story and I want it now. I want to know when this pranking duel started, how it started, who all was involved and how it ended so terribly yesterday" Tony demanded with a slight vibration in his voice that signaled he was doing everything in his power to keep control of himself.

She looked to each of them, not making eye contact but looking enough to determine body language and likely response to certain answers. They did not look forgiving or understanding, just angry. With that she began slowly.

"Halloween, I dared Abby, just Abby and myself and I don't know" and although CJ knew that this answer was not going to be sufficient she thought it was a good place to start and she wanted to keep her answers as direct and vague as possible so as not to implicate herself or anyone else in something they didn't already know about. For instance if they didn't already know about the Halloween prank that had the police called to the school it would be best to not give any extra information that lead to that coming out.

"CJ!" Tony and Gibbs yelled in unison. She jumped which triggered the tears that had been accumulating in her eyes to begin to fall. Tony handed her a tissue with the terse instruction "answers, NOW".

"I don't know what you want to know" she yelled back.

It was Gibbs who gave the 'watch the attitude' directive and she glared in his direction but quickly lowered her head and eyes when she saw the glare he was giving in return. There was no doubt who the alpha 'wolf' was today.

Taking a deep breath and blowing it out slowly inflating his cheeks as he did it Tony decided to ask one question at a time in hopes of getting a more complete picture of what exactly his daughter was responsible for. The principal had given Gibbs a list of pranks and practical jokes that had happened that year that he knew of, not because he had specifically suspected CJ but because Gibbs had asked for it. He thought they should be as informed as possible before talking with CJ.

"OK… "he forced out controlled and evenly. "Let's start with Halloween. Where you part of the prank that staged a crime scene in the gym change rooms?"

CJ couldn't hide the look surprise that flashed across her face. She hadn't been in her right mind yesterday when Mr. Cooperland and Gibbs were talking but she was aware enough to know that specifics outside of yesterday were not discussed. What she wanted to say was, how do you know about that? Instead she meekly answered "Yes sir".

"So yesterdays fiasco with the police was not your first one this year. It was the second time in 5 weeks that you were responsible for having the local LEO's called out to your school wasting their valuable time on a kid's prank."

"Ok… you're making it sound way worse than it is" CJ tried to defend herself. He was definitely putting this in the worse possible context.

"Am I? How would you describe it then?" he said as he leaned back and folded his arms across his chest.

"I would say … "she began but then couldn't come up with an answer she thought either of them would accept.

"Who helped you?"

"No one" came her immediate reply.

"Who helped you?" he asked again only with more force behind each word.

"No one" she answered again she was not going to implicate anyone, no matter what they said.

"WHO HELPED YOU?" he commanded bringing his face close to hers.

"No one" she whispered. "And yelling isn't going to change my answer."

Before she had an opportunity to finish her sentence Tony stood lifted her by her arm so that she was now kneeling on the couch and he applied two swats to her now available backside. He then lowered her back to sitting.

"Neither will that" she said through tears and a cracking voice.

"CJ, we know there is no way you were solely responsible for everything so it would be best if you just told us who else was involved." Gibbs tried gently to persuade her to give up the list of accomplices, but he knew from previous experience that she wouldn't give in, she hadn't in the past. Unlike the last time when there was only one possible suspect, CJ social group had grown and blaming all of them wasn't going to work.

"No one but Abby and I were involved in the pranking war and any prank that may have taken place during said war. And that is my final answer." Getting more confidence from the adrenaline rush of anger she growled her answer and looked right at both men.

Gibbs shook his head almost imperceptibly towards DiNozzo signally he thought that line of questioning was going nowhere and wasn't worth the time.

Tony took that opportunity to lecture on choosing the right time and place for pranks and the consequences of police involvement and how anyone caught doing such things could at minimally be charged with mischief. He ranted for a few more sentences before moving on to a different line of questioning.

"Then what?"

"Then what? What?" CJ asked cockily.

Ignoring the sass he clarified. "What did you do next?"

CJ took a moment she actually had to think. She'd been running from one prank to the next and really hadn't kept a written record.

"I think that was the week I put food colouring in the soap in the teacher's lounge." She decided that she wasn't going to admit to the rats if possible. Admitting to the food colouring thing was the lesser of two wrongs.

"You had nothing to do with the rats bid for freedom the week after Halloween?" Gibbs asked.

She only had a few seconds to answer and sound convincing and so she chances a lie. "No, the competition only required one prank a week to keep in the game."

She must have sounded honest enough as they moved on. Food colouring in soap was so minor an infraction CJ surmised as they moved on to what had she done week three.

Again she had to actually think. What order had she done them in?

"Ah… week three… oh that was week that the staff all had a meeting in the cafeteria… that was the week that I …."and then she hesitated. It would be the millionth time she'd been told not to use super glue inappropriately but they seemed to have a list of occurrences and she didn't think she could lie her way out of that one.

"Yes… you…" Tony tried to prompt.

"I broke into the principal and deputy prinicipals offices' and ensured that all their stationary was stationary." There she'd been able to say it without using the words super and glue.

"CJ are you supposed to use super glue for anything?" Tony enquired. Didn't matter he used them.

"No sir" but CJ kept looking at him. Her confidence was not wavering.

Gibbs stepped into reprimand on this one. It would have been far too ironic for Tony who spent a good part of his early NCIS career super gluing things he shouldn't have been to lecture on the subject. Gibbs continued questioning when he was finished with his respect for other people's property, locked doors speech she'd heard many times before.

"I think we can assume that the following week you were the one responsible for the artistic anti corporal punishment display in the front entrance." At this point he gestured to Tony who flipped open his phone and showed the tiny screen to CJ. It was a cell phone video complete with sound of the display they had left in the front foyer. She had to smile. It really was good, she thought to herself. She hadn't noticed that both Gibbs and her father suppressed smirks listening to the line "Teacher's leave those kids alone" blaring as much as possible out of phone.

It was CJ's turn to ask the questions "Where did you get that video?" She was worried that she hadn't been deleting things properly off her phone and that's where they had first found it.

"Mr. Cooperland was kind enough to share this with us" Tony answered.

CJ smiled again. She didn't think the principal had videotaped many other pranks which meant he wanted to keep a record of that one. Unfortunately the two men watching her didn't take kindly to her positive response to the video. "CJ it isn't funny. Those things.." waving the phone in her face to see the wind chimes "were not yours, you STOLE them from the offices."

"No, no, no… I borrowed them. I did not damage them in any way and they were returned to their rightful owners by the end of the day."

"Did you have permission to borrow them?"

"No, but…"

"Then you stole them. The fact that they got returned to their rightful owner doesn't mean they weren't stolen in the first place" Tony's voice rising in volume and pitch.

"We are going to have to agree to disagree on that point because I will acknowledge that I stole anything." CJ's bravado was keeping steady even though her father looked as though he were about to blow. It was Gibbs' hand on his shoulder that kept him from hauling his daughter off the couch and landing a few more well placed smacks.

"Enough" Gibbs growled at her. Tony was gently moved to the side and took up residence in the chair once occupied by Gibbs.

Having an ex marine, ex special agent stand directly in front of you while you're in the seated position is unnerving at the best of times but when you've pissed him off it really isn't an advisable location to find yourself in. CJ concentrated on her breathing and tried very hard to maintain eye contact but in the end had to close her eyes hard to try and keep the tears that were accumulating again from spilling down her cheeks.

"Is there anything else you would like us to know about before we move on to yesterday's disaster? I would suggest that coming clean now is in your best interest."

She just shook her head no. Yesterday was, well, it was horrible and she was probably right in assuming that the conversation to this point would be considered pleasant and buoyant compared to the conversation that was about to happen.

"Why does Abby think that yesterday was all her fault?" Gibbs enquired still standing directly above her.

"You should probably ask her" CJ answered as politely as she could. She didn't want to get Abby into any more trouble than she was probably already in.

"I'm not going to ask a third time and so I expect and answer" his course whisper could just barely be heard.

"She gave them to me" her feathery whisper traveled quite well to both their ears.

"By them you mean the firecrackers?" Gibbs' voice back to conversational levels.

"Yes sir"

"Is that it? She just gave them to you. You decided what to do with them and when?"

"Kinda" CJ tried to see if that would be an acceptable answer although she was pretty certain it wouldn't fly.

"Kinda! Not good enough CJ. What did Abby say when she gave them to you?" realizing that it was going to require very specific questions to get the answers he wanted.

"She said 'open the box later it's a surprise' " CJ answered completely honestly. She then waited as she saw her uncle take a deep breath, look to her father, clench and unclench his hands before he continued.

"So she gave them to you as a gift? Is that what I'm to believe?"

"Yes, because that is the truth, I swear." CJ nodded her head adamantly to reinforce her words. "It was a small black box wrapped with a shiny black bow, I might even still have it in my room."

"Go get it" was her uncle's only instruction.

She unfolded her knees and scooted quickly past him, in case he got any ideas of adding incentives to go faster or something. She ran to her room, flung open her closet door and rummaged through the layer of collected belongings lining the floor. There it was the box and the discarded bow. She grabbed both and returned to the living room handing them over as if they were a great prize.

Gibbs lifted the lid slowly to discover a small folded sheet of paper inside. He removed it and let the box drop to the coffee table. It that moment CJ's heart had stopped. She'd just tied the noose around Abby's neck and tightened her own.

After he finished reading the note the older man handed it to her father. She sat frozen not sure what words would undo the note. She didn't think there were words in any language that would be suitable. Her eyes followed the paper back and forth between the two men. The silence growing like a cloud around her she needed to say something just to break through the building tension. "But like you said everyone is responsible for their own choices. It is just as much my fault as Abby's."

And in that moment CJ's previous statement to Abby that she herself would suffer the more severe consequences should they be discovered seemed selfish and feeble. Abby could lose her job, the job she loved so much, she could lose Gibbs and Tony if they got mad enough. If CJ had been really hurt… she didn't even want to contemplate that scenario.

"CJ, if Abby had not given these to you, would you have sought them out? Answer me honestly." Gibbs' tone was gentle and kind, he had crouched down so that his eyes were level with her face.

Tears spilling all down her face she shook her head no without saying a word. She couldn't have said anything anyway she was so upset.

Gibbs tussled her hair as he stood, kissed her on the top of her head and left the room. He didn't need to be there for the next part of the conversation. Tony could handle it alone. He walked to the kitchen, poured himself a coffee and began to read the paper.

Coming to sit on the couch beside his daughter Tony wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her towards him. Although he was still furious with the whole dueling idea and he couldn't believe that she would cut class at all let alone to pull a prank of all things, he felt sorry for her. She was responsible for a chaotic mess at the school yesterday but she was lead there by an adult who definitely knew better. And it was an adult that should have been keeping his daughter out of trouble rather than helping her get herself in deeper.

Until he'd found out what a heavy role Abby had played in the firecracker catastrophe Tony had convinced himself that he had the stomach and will to take a switch to CJ again. He had wanted to make a solid impression that putting herself in danger and risking her freedom was not worth any prank. He and Gibbs both had threatened in the past that the whipping they were about to deliver would be the worst one yet. Problem was they were running out of room to maneuver on that threat. That is why he had initially decided that he could handle being on the administration side of the switch again, in hopes of truly never having to be in that situation again.

But there he sat, with his sobbing child laying against his shoulder, completely unable to follow through on that particular decision. He waited until she had gotten control of the tears and crying. He knew they were for Abby and he wanted to make sure that when he spoke she was completely attentive. Her sobs turned to labored breathing and then to occasional quiet gasps. At that point he began his final tirade. It was long winded and stern but he didn't yell. He wanted to reinforce a few points they had already touched on that morning and a few new ones as well. CJ for her part stayed quiet and just listened. She could probably have given the speech herself she'd heard it so many times. She snorted when that thought had occurred to her but quieted quickly when her father directed a particularly nasty glare in her direction. When he finally fell silent they both understood what the next step would be, but neither moved immediately.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"Are you going to make me cut a …" she didn't finish her questions before he answered "Not this time peanut. Not this time." He could feel some of the tension leave her body as she relaxed to some extent when he finished answering.

"Just yesterday someone was reminding me just how often I took a hiding for screwing up, they suggested that us DiNozzo's needed more reminders than maybe some other people." He smiled down at her as she turned to look up into his face. "Dad, you should have given me more David genes, mom seemed to stay out of trouble better than you" she joked poking him with her pointer finger in the middle of his chest.

"C'mon CJ" he said as he extricated himself from underneath her. If either of them could have seen the scene unfold in the next two seconds they probably would have laughed out loud. The symmetry of their movement was quite comical. They both stood, rolled their shoulders back before letting them fall, then they inhaled deeply only releasing the air once they had turned to face the other. He slowly undid his belt and folded it in two holding the buckle and lose end in his hand. He backed up while taking CJ's good hand in his free one and gently pulled her to the end of the couch. With his free hand he undid the snap and fly on her jeans, knowing she wouldn't be able to with her hand bandaged as it was. With his eyes and a nod of his head he directed her to take off her jeans and bend over the end of the couch. She was slightly confused as she had never been instructed to lie like that before. He answered her unasked question "You won't be able to hold yourself up very easily with that hand and the side of the couch will help support you." If he wasn't describing how she was to be positioned for a thrashing his words would have sounded kind.

Since yesterday when she was curled up in the corner of the girl's bathroom she knew this moment was coming and for the first time in her life was glad this moment had arrived. She didn't need to wait anymore, she didn't need to worry about the outcome, she just needed to lie there and take the thrashing she knew she deserved. In the past she had told Steven that a spanking made the guilt go away, and although she knew what that meant, it was at this very moment that she finally and truly understood the meaning. She was writhing inside with guilt and not knowing how to resolve the emotional conflict, but she also knew that in several minutes she may not be able to sit comfortably but the mass of wrestling centipedes would all be gone and she could count on her family to still love her and care for her. She would have paid her debt so to speak and she would be free of the burden that currently rested on her shoulders.

Looking over her shoulder as she lowered herself to the couch she watched her father's expression. She couldn't determine the emotion but caught his eye and flashed a quick smile. Thinking she was stalling he firmly said "NOW, CJ".

As soon as she was lying still, he raised his right hand and let the belt fall heavily on her bottom. Knowing she deserved every lick of this punishment she tried very hard to take it stoically, she sucked in air through her teeth it wasn't going to be easy. Tony laid it on hard and didn't give much time between lashes for CJ to catch her breath or keep herself from crying. He may feel for her situation but he also knew that things could have been much worse and as her father he needed to reinforce the lessons he hoped she would finally learn. By the time Tony was threading his belt back through the loops on his pants CJ had been give a thorough chastisement and was crying openly without reservation.

She crawled her hands along the couch until they were at the side and then pushed herself to standing. She pulled up her pants but left them undone, she planned on showering in a few minutes and didn't want to ask for help to get herself undone. Tony turned her gently so that they were face to face, taking her by the chin he looked right into her eyes before saying "CJ I love you very much, and I do understand how fun it is, but there is a time and place, and you need to learn that, otherwise it could truly but the death of both of us." She pushed her tear stained face into his chest and softly cried while he held the back of her neck and rested his head on the top of hers. They stayed like that for several long minutes, until CJ pulled away and with her best DiNozzo smile answered "I'll try, I'll try really hard."

"Good, that's settled then." He watched her walk stiffly out of the room holding her pants up with her good hand. He then turned and entered the kitchen to find Gibbs hiding behind his paper. He of course had heard everything from his station.

He had first heard the loving yet firm exchange and then he heard the instruction to bend over. Even as a well seasoned marine that command always made his heart jump into his throat, no matter who was giving or receiving it. His eyes then blinked involuntarily with every lick and stayed closed a little longer with the ones that had landed on bare skin of her upper thigh because they made a just slightly different thwacking noise. It wasn't that he didn't think she deserved a whipping, she definitely did, it was more that he could imagine a time he'd gotten himself into a similar mess and been the one on the receiving end.

"Hey Boss, I'm going to go to work now, you alright bringing her by later to see Jimmy?" Tony asked while he gathered his backpack and belongings.

"Yep" was all he needed to answer. The rest was shared in the knowing glances.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N - DeVore504 hope this works ok for you - I kept your request in mind while writing.**

Abby had a horrible night. She was gittery and couldn't sleep. All she could see when she closed her eyes was CJ all bandaged up, but in her mind's eye CJ had bandages from head to foot. She was in her lab working by 0600 and even the whirring and beeping of her "babies" couldn't calm her frayed nerves.

The only time Tony spoke to her at all yesterday was in the conference room to growl a threat in her direction. She wasn't worried about any official or unofficial sanctions that may be imposed due to her complete and utter lack of judgment. She was worried about losing Tony's respect and love. He was her family and she'd jeopardized not only the physical safety of his daughter but his relationship with her as well. She was worried about losing CJ.

By 0700 Abby was on her third Caf-Pow and was buzzing around the lab trying to keep busy to keep herself from going crazy. She had wanted to call him last night, tell him how sorry she was, and find out if CJ had come around but she hadn't called. If he wanted to talk to her he knew how to get a hold of her.

It was as CJ was rousing at home the Ziva strode into the lab with such angry determination that Abby quickly stopped moving and froze. Mama Bear was not at all happy that her cub had been put in danger and was there to make sure the guilty party knew it. Abby had never had cause to see Ziva's scary Mossad trained persona and right then decided that it really was a frightening experience. Ziva approached Abby ominously forcing Abby to back up with each of Ziva's forward steps. It wasn't until Ziva had Abby pinned against the glass of the sliding door that she spoke. Her voice was low and even.

"CJ is MY daughter. She could have been seriously injured yesterday…" before she could continue Abby tried to apologize, tried to say how sorry she was but Ziva held up her pointer finger and glared just enough more that Abby was quickly silenced. "She is 15… 15 years old… you are suppose to be helping her stay safe and out of trouble … not parking her in it." Again Abby involuntarily went to speak to correct the idiom but the finger was raised again.

"All I can say to you right now is that you are lucky you did not make me this angry when I first arrived to America, because if you had, even someone as talented as you would not have been able to identify the remains." With an extra ferocious stare and deep throated growl Ziva turned on her heel and marched out of the lab. Abby was left breathlessly leaning against the door. In all her worrying and fretting, Ziva and her feelings had never crossed her mind. Ziva took things so well and was generally the one to keep everyone on track, keep a level head and not fly off the handle.

It's not that Ziva was out of control, it was how angry she was. Abby wasn't sure how she was going to make it up to them. She'd endangered CJ and caused so much trouble for her, she wasn't sure she could make it up to them. That thought scared her more than the threat Ziva had just issued. What would she do if she couldn't fix it? What if they never forgave her?

Abby didn't see any of the team for the rest of the morning and broke down in sobs several times as she thought that she had lost them all and no one would trust her or forgive her ever, ever again. What she didn't know was that shortly after 0900 Tony had arrived and parked himself at his desk. Having sorted things out with his daughter he was emotionally not ready to deal with Abby and so stayed slumped in front of his computer for most of the morning. It wasn't that he couldn't forgive her, it was that he wasn't ready to handle it. The only time he spoke was to his wife to trade stories about their morning 'run ins'. A transitory smile was seen when Ziva told him about her threat, his crazy ninja chick could be quite terrifying that was for sure.

Gibbs and CJ arrived in time for lunch and the four of them all went out to a local restaurant to get a bite to eat. CJ was exceptionally uncomfortable with her burnt fingers and sitting on a well punished backside she wasn't interested in hanging around visiting once everyone was done eating and none to subtly suggested they should all get back to work and she needed to see Jimmy. Not being in a very talkative mood everyone agreed and they returned promptly to headquarters after eating. On the walk back to the office Gibbs asked Tony "How did it go with Abby?"

"Didn't" Tony answered sheepishly.

"What?" his voice almost a yell. "Tony" his said disapprovingly.

"I didn't know what to do or say. I don't know it's like my entire career you drilled it into everyone's head to protect Abby. Keep her safe, look after her. Not like I do with CJ, it's different. And so I kind of put it off. It just didn't feel right… yet."

"Are you still angry? Are you not ready to forgive her yet? Not ready for it to be over?" Gibbs questioned.

"No that's not it, don't get me wrong I'm furious that she did what she did, but I can forgive her, I just want her to be punished for her stupid mistakes and I guess I don't 'feel' comfortable doing that." He paused long enough to look into his old boss' face and try and convey exactly what he was feeling.

The smile Gibbs gave made Tony feel a whole lot better and he laughed when he felt a light slap to the back of his head. "What was that for?" he whined.

"For leaving Abby stewing all morning, she is going to be impossible to listen to when we go down there."

Ziva returned to the squad room as soon as they returned to check on the rest of the team and finish any paper work that may have been lingering. Gibbs and Tony escorted CJ down to autopsy and left her in Jimmy's capable hands. Then the two men headed up a level to the lab to find their favourite miscreant lab rat.

They found her just shy of rocking in a crazed attempt to calm herself. In general when Tony and Gibbs entered a room on a mission of sorts their prey generally retreated, finding protection behind whatever furnishings or natural barriers were available to them. But not Abby, she had convinced herself that Tony would never forgive her, never speak to her and never set eyes on her again that when she saw him walk through the door relief flooded over her. She flung herself into his arms and her words were so fast and covered in sobs that they were almost unintelligible.

"Tony.. I'm so sorry… I didn't want CJ to get hurt… it's all my fault.. all my fault… I hurt her… please forgive me please… I know I should have stopped her… I know I shouldn't have encouraged her… I know it was my responsibility to keep her safe… I failed. … I failed miserably… you didn't come..is she ok.. are her fingers going to be alright… " her words continued but were completely obliterated by her racking sobs.

Tony wrapped his arms instinctively around her and turned slightly to put himself between her and Gibbs. As he'd told Gibbs earlier he'd been trained to protect Abby and it was hard to fight against it. Abby took a long time to get herself under control again but when she was finally able to Tony directed her to the back office area and sat her in her desk chair. The two men stood over her and their admonishment began. They finished each other's sentences moving from following CJ instead of leading, to her own involvement and practical joking at work and finally concluded with the completely ludicrous decision to give firecrackers to a 15 year old with a challenge to use them at school.

"What were you thinking would be the response to explosions and the smell of gunpowder in a DC high school or federal agency?" was one of the questions she just shook her head at as she couldn't come up with an answer that made any sense to herself let alone either of these two.

When they had yelled and talked themselves out Abby jumped up again and clung to Tony. Her apologetic rant could at least be understood this time. "I know you are Abby. I forgive you. Ziva on the other hand may take a bit more time. Just be patient. ok?" Abby smiled for the first time in over 30 hours and a sense of ease began to wash over her. That was until Tony and Gibbs shared a knowing look and Tony disentangled himself from Abby's grip, nodded to Gibbs and left the lab in search of CJ.

"Bossman?" Abby enquired.

"Abby do you remember a really long time ago when I said I'd hate to have to start smackin' you like I do DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked quietly.

Nodding her reply while biting her lip and twisting her hands, tears filled her eyes for the millionth time that day.

"Do you remember what else I said?"

Again a nod was her only reply. Her eyes pleading but nothing was said out loud.

He spun his finger around and she interpreted it correctly to mean she was to turn around. She complied while chewing vehemently on her lower lip and keeping her eyes on Gibbs at all times. Tilting his head to direct her to bend over the desk he also began to unbuckle his belt. She let out a sharp gasp when the reality of what was about to happen sunk in.

"Abs, this isn't one of your little games, this is a punishment for everything we just talked about, you understand don't you?" leaning down to speak directly into her ear.

She squeaked out a response through her continued biting of her lower lip.

Gibbs did not need to tell her this wasn't a game, she easily could have figured it out once he delivered the first lick. She squeaked and her eyes grew wide as the second one found its mark. By the fourth she was shifting her weight from one foot to the other trying to avoid the belt landing on the same already burning spots. He made sure to administer a sound licking he wanted to make sure that CJ's punishment was not more severe than that of her adult accomplice.

Abby was still crying after Gibbs had replaced his belt and was standing arms open to receive the enormous hug he knew she would fling in his direction. They stood holding onto each other for quite a long time before Abby drew away, wiping her face with her palm saying "I'm all better now, I think I can actually work now" her face back to its usual happy smile.

Like CJ, Abby bounced back with ease and dexterity of emotion. Gibbs passed her on his way to the elevator bubbly as ever talking madly to her Major Mass Spec about what he needed to accomplish.


	11. Chapter 11

CJ stood leaning against Jimmy's desk as he finished cleaning up from his latest body. She watched his assistant and was positive that her earlier assessment that he was useless and not a 'keeper' was only reinforced as he was unable to clean up the instruments and mess around the room without asking Jimmy every two seconds what to do next. The generally laid back and easy going ME was snapping by the time he instructed CJ to sit up on the closest table.

CJ instead stood in front of the table and held out her bandaged hand for him to examine.

"C'mon CJ up on the table, it's easier for me to work and then you can rest your elbow on your knee and you won't have to hold up your arm like that" pointing to how she was awkwardly holding it against her body.

"It's ok Jimmy, I'll be fine holding it like this" CJ really didn't want to sit any more than absolutely necessary and Jimmy was not taking the hint. Without warning Jimmy once again lifted her under her arms up onto the table and deposited her none too gently on her complaining bottom. He was not a stupid man and was well aware of what she was doing and wasn't going to allow it. "Now, let's see that hand." He began to carefully peel away the bandaging and burn pads he had wrapped around each finger yesterday. The burns weren't very large but were quite severe. He cleaned them as tenderly as possible but burns were a painful injury and they were easily infected so he needed to make sure they were healing well.

CJ was wincing and gritting her teeth the entire time Jimmy worked on her fingers. It really hurt. Her dad needn't have tanned her hide she thought, the painful burn care would have been more than enough to remind her of the absolutely stupid thing she'd done. Jimmy concluded his doctoring by wiping away the few tears that has trickled out of CJ's eyes. "It will get easier each day as they heal and they aren't so open" he explained lovingly.

"Thanks Jimmy" she answered hopping down off the table.

"I'll follow you up, I need to tell DiNozzo, ah, your dad something" Jimmy offered as he followed her out of autopsy and into the elevator. CJ had left autopsy for the first time in her life that day without a 'I remember a time' story. It was a sad moment, she hoped it was that Jimmy was preoccupied with work or something and not that he wasn't interested in sharing stories with her anymore. The bull pen seemed to be full of people, it may have been the fact that they were all standing around the plasma, or just the fact that not only was the team there so were Gibbs and the director.

CJ held back to spend a moment or two assessing what was happening and whether it was 'safe' to enter the fray and Jimmy almost ran into her not expecting her to stop midstride. He too took a moment to determine exactly what was going on, the crowd was smiling and comfortable. CJ finally processed what was on the plasma, it was the video that Mr. Cooperland the principal had taken of her 'display'. The gathered crowd was now laughing and she heard someone say "She has a lot of nerve, I guess that's what you get when you let two special agents produce children." Everyone but Tony laughed. Henry's head snapped forward from the serious smack Tony applied to the back of it. "Shutting up now Boss" Henry said rubbing the back of his head while he slunk away to his desk.

Someone clicked the controller as soon as they spotted CJ and Jimmy off to the side and a few throats cleared. The director made his excuses and left going to the stairs in the opposite direction of where CJ was standing. Jimmy stepping around CJ and pulling Tony to the side to speak with him privately for few minutes. Realizing that no one was paying her close attention and not wanting to answer any questions about the video or any other incidents she may have been involved in CJ backed away keeping her eyes on them as she retreated. At the elevator she finally turned and entered as the doors dinged open. She hit the button for Abby's lab and waited.

The doors slid open and an uneasiness fell over her. Maybe Abby would be mad that she'd been caught and got them into so much trouble. Maybe she wouldn't want to see her. Maybe she would yell at CJ for not being more careful.

Abby stood in her lab waiting, she'd heard the elevator doors open but no one came in. Who would linger in the hallway and not come right in? She kept looking over her shoulder every few seconds so that she wasn't startled when whoever it was finally entered. And then out of the corner of her eye she saw CJ peek around the corner and then duck back into the hallway. Abby ran as best she could in her knee high platforms and grabbed CJ in a crushing embrace. CJ didn't get an opportunity to say a word before Abby's rant began.

"Oh CJ are you ok?... you're ok right?... Gibbs said you were going to be ok.. I am so sorry, you forgive me.. please say you forgive me… I was so wrong… I shouldn't have given you those firecrackers.. I shouldn't have agreed to the duel.. I should have helped you stay safe.. it was all my fault… it was horrible of me… I feel so bad.. are you ok? CJ say something…" Abby instructed almost angrily as she pulled CJ away from her body so that she could see her face.

"ABBY!" CJ half shouted. "I can't say anything with you rambling on like a maniac" giving her partner in crime a knowing smile. Abby hugged her tightly again. She was ok , she was CJ. "Abs, I'm fine… a little worse for wear but on the mend… or at least that's what Jimmy tells me… he wouldn't lie would he?" again CJ finished with a smile. Abby breathed normally for the first time all day. She had now encountered everyone who would have something to say to her about the mess she'd caused and they all had forgiven her, well not Ziva, but Abby was sure with a little time she would come around too.

"You're not mad at me?" CJ ventured when Abby finally let go of her.

"Me… mad at you.. that is just crazy talk.. why would I be mad at you?" Abby's confused look staring back at CJ.

"Because I got caught, which meant you got caught and you wouldn't have if I hadn't. And I thought you might get in trouble and blame me" shrugging as she explained.

"I got in trouble because of what I did, not because of what you did, Got IT!" she emphasized the last syllables.

"Got IT!" CJ assured her.

CJ joined Abby at her computer in the main lab area and the two exchanged stories about the specifics of the previous day. Gibbs and Tony arrived in search of CJ and interrupted the rolling giggles that were completely out of control as CJ tried to impersonate both Gibbs and Tony at the same time. Although neither man was angry Gibbs instructed "Let's go CJ you are having far too much fun for a day of suspension from school."

Hugging Abby one last time, CJ whispered in her ear "I love you Abs" and then scooted to keep up with Gibbs who had already made his way to the elevator.


End file.
